You Rascal, You
by Keeper Write
Summary: What happens when Amity twins Jack and Tori transfer to Dauntless? When their whole life they've been told to avoid conflict at all costs, they find initiation is tougher than they had imagined. No war, because I want all my characters to live [runs into distance laughing maniacally]. Hate, mutual-like, strong-like and love all wrapped up in one fic just for you. OC orientated!
1. Chapter 1: Yellow Submarine

_**A/N: Let's start by saying I don't even own the house I live in, let alone the Divergent Trilogy. I stole the plot and most of the lines, so thanks for that Veronica Roth. Btw, beautiful story, amazing twist to the typical dystopian theme.**_

_**Keep in mind that I am Canadian, so some of the spelling for certain words may look off to you if you're American. Microsoft Word kept telling me I was spelling things wrong, but I am stubborn and refuse to change it.**_

_**I like to think that the residential area for Amity is closer to the heart of Chicago than the farms. **_

_**Also, I felt like such a genius when I was writing this story because I was like 'Oh, yeah! Tori and Jack are awesome names' up until I got to the tattoo scene where I remembered there was already a somewhat **__**major character named Tori.**_

_** I slapped myself on the head pretty hard for that. Regardless, I'm not changing the names. **_

_**I'd like to thank my brother for helping me with this story, he had a lot of input on Jack's character.**_

_** As an amateur writer, a little self-insertion never hurt anyone.**_

* * *

"I'm going to die. You're going to kill me. I knew this was how I was going to die, by_ your_ hands!" My twin brother screams, pointing down at me.

"Jack, relax. You're like, five feet off the ground, even if you do fall you won't be hurt." I reassure him, hoping his paranoia doesn't accumulate into aggression.

"TORI, WHY AM I IN THIS TREE?" He shouts back, his eyebrows crinkling together in frustration.

"Fine. Get down you wuss." I say as I turn on my heels and begin to walk away. I know he's not afraid of heights, he just doesn't want scratches all over him on such an important day.

"Wait," He says, "Wait! Don't leave!"

A smile creeps onto my face as I ask, "What?"

"Get your ass up here," He sighs out in defeat. He extends a hand and helps me into an old Amity oak tree that easily concealed us from unwanted eyes. "So, what's wrong? Is this about the aptitude test?" I can feel my eyebrows furrow together. Jackson knows me so well, it's alarming.

"Yeah," I say, without further explanation. We climb until Jackson grabs a branch that bends easily, it's as high as he'll dare to go. He sits with his back against the trunk of the tree and I sit with both legs hanging off a branch.

"You don't think you'll get Amity, do you?" He asks, saying aloud the words that have been haunting me for months.

"Do you think you will?" I ask, raising an eyebrow in disbelief. He snorts.

"What's the worse that could happen?" He says, smiling with his dimples, "Abnegation?"

I poke him in the stomache and he swats my hands away, "No, I wouldn't mind Abnegation. It's Candor I can't stand."

"Or worse," he adds with a shiver, "Erudite." We don't say it, but we both know which faction we belong in, and it's not Amity. After a moment of silence, he adds "we should get going."

We climb down and we walk back home.

My baby brother by two minutes, with a beauty mark under his left eye, heart-shaped face, wide forehead and pointed chin, is identical to me. As we walk back to the streets I feel nostalgic. There was a time when I was taller than him and I teased him for it. Now I'm 5 ft 7" and he's 5 ft 9", and he takes every chance he has to remind me of it. Occasionally stealing glances at him, I know he's doing the same to me. There is always that chance of the aptitude test telling us something we don't want to hear, and there is always the chance that Jackson has been hiding something from me.

We share identical high, wide, cheekbones that give the impression of apple-like cheeks and, thus a lingering smile. No matter how far away we get from Amity, apples will always haunt us.

We have almond shaped eyes, he loves almonds. I don't. I read somewhere as I child that pre-war people used a poison that tasted like almonds, cyanide. I never ate almonds after that, I was too afraid it would be poison. Jack looks at me through his long eyelashes. They're like, really long, I'm jealous.

As we near our house, he becomes aware of my scrutiny and asks, "What?"

"Just admiring your beautiful brown eyes," I say dryly.

"Brown? I wouldn't call them brown.."

Here we go.

"How would you describe them?" I ask impatiently. He stops abruptly and faces me with his hands firmly on my shoulders. He stares at my eyes. "Jack...?"

"Black rim around the iris and a vivid reddish-orange around the pupil. Within the pupil itself seems to be a balance of gold and lighter-brown rays. This associates me with a plain, salt-of-the-earth honesty or a chocolate-brown depth and richness." He says, in a mocking Erudite tone.

"Associates _us_," I point out.

"How logical of you," He retorts, sticking out his tongue.

* * *

We go home where our mom is just setting tea on the dinner table. She smiles as she sees us walk in and embraces us in hugs.

"Jason, sweet heart, come quick" She calls out in her soft tone to our dad. My mom, Lily, has her straight raven black hair let down to her waste and she's dressed in an orange skirt and yellow tank top that exposes her tanned shoulders. My dad walks in with his brown hair at his shoulders, wearing baggy yellow pants and an orange vest on a yellow shirt. We are biologically their children, Jackson and Victoria Argent, but my mom's hair colour is about all we share in common.

"Look at you two," Dad says in astonishment, as if we grew ten years older over night. Oh, god. They're going to guilt trip us on _aptitude test day_ out of all days. I grin as wide as my face will let me and pull my dad into a hug, at which point he starts crying. _Ugh, please don't cry. _"No matter.." He says inbetween sobs, "what choice you make tomorrow, we will love you, _always._" With a carress of my face and a crushing embrace to Jack, Dad wipes his tears away. Mom doesn't shed tears, instead she beams at us with her radiant smile. When the dramatic "I'm so proud of you" speech is done, we sit together and eat, but not before Dad says grace. I always feel guilty when we do grace, it makes me feel uncomfortable because I'm reminded of yet another barrier between me and my parents. I have an apple and milk. I know what's in the bread and I would like to be in the right state of mind when I take my test today. Also, I hate tea. Jack tilts his head towards the door, asking if I'm ready to leave. I nod and we make our way to the bus stop.

* * *

I hate the yellow of Amity so I tend to wear red often. My brother does the same. I can understand why people stare at us on the bus. Two sixteen year olds sitting side by side, both clad in bright red casual clothes, identical features, staring out the window at the tall buildings that get closer and closer together as we reach the heart of the city.

Physically, we don't have many differences. Jackson's got thick black eyebrows, all but no arch from lack of grooming. I've begged him so many times to let me tweeze him just a little. It gives him a menacing and mischevious look, but I think he likes it. My eyebrows are clearly tweazed, high-arching brows that Jack says adds to my look of curiousity and interest. Not to mention they give me a regal, royal look. He has raven black hair cut short unlike the other Amity boys who tend to grow their hair out to their shoulders. My hair is the same colour and reaches past my waste and half way down my butt, though majority of the time it is kept up in a high pony tail or a braid embedded with flowers as it is now. His nose has a thin bridge, it's small and short and hella cute. I'm also jealous of this. The bridge of my nose is much wider, but I think it suits me. He has these thin lips in a dark shade of pink, almost purple. Prominent cupids bow. Smiles often, not as much as I do. Slightly crooked teeth. My lips are fuller and plumper than his, same colour though. Prominent cupids bow and straight teeth. We both have a square hairline that gives the illusion of a wide forehead, and we're both tall. Jackson is lean and I would be too if my boobs and butt weren't so big. I'm always running as a messenger, so my strongest muscles are in my legs. I can throw a good punch but Jackson can throw a better one, he spends all his time lifting sacks of food so he's got some serious arm muscle and he hates running. Even our postures are different, I stand tall with certitude. I walk regally, and I run like someone's chasing me. He runs like me, but slouches with indiscipline. Walks like the rest of Amity, with an annoying bounce in his step. I tend to catch eyes often and I can say, I like it. The cute Abnegation and his sister at the front of the bus look in our direction. Jack doesn't like extra attention and gets uncomfortable easily, he looks away from them and back outside whereas I catch the boys eye and smile. Jackson tends to be fierce and though he hides it well, he can be aggressive.


	2. Chapter 2: Changing Churchill

_**A/N: Just to make it a little more clear, their names are Jackson and Victoria Argent. The only people who call them Jack and Tori are [Jack and Tori and] their neighbours, Scott and Harry [Harold to everyone else].**_

_**Also, Tori looks like my friend in the cover photo but I think Jack looks more like Derek Hale/Tyler Hoechlin**_

* * *

Trust, self-sufficiency, forgiveness, and kindness. That's what makes the people of Amity.

That's not what makes us.

The bus stops in front of the school and Jackson and I rise in unison. I sway through the people like liquid but Jackson has a harder time, he has to mutter excuse me and elbow people to get off the bus.

We approach the doors at the same time as the Abnegation siblings and the boy holds open the door for us.

"How kind of you," I say with a smile as Jackson and I walk inside.

"Were you flirting with a Stiff?" Jackson asks me, his eyebrows raised.

"First, don't call them Stiffs. And second, are you kidding? I had to stop myself from saying 'How _Amity_ of you'" I retort, a little more defensively than I had intended.

With shorter classes, everyone's trying to soak up the safety net that school provides because our factions will be responsible for furthering our education. Some people are desperately trying to cling to their education (most plausibly the erudite) and others are glad they may never have to step foot into another crowded hall of pubescent teenagers. Guess which one I am.

Jackson heads to Faction History and I go the other direction to Biology. Walking towards me is the Abnegation girl from the bus, who's in Jacks FH class. I'm about to wave at her when she gets knocked onto the floor by an Erudite boy. Nobody stops to help her except for me. I can feel eyes on my back, people wondering why I would help a _Stiff_. God, these people are so crude. I can't wait to get out of here.

I help her to her feet and grab some of her books as she dusts off her clothes.

"You alright?" I ask.

"Fine," she mumbles staring at her toes, "Thank you."

"Don't mention it, Erudite can be a little... selfish." I see her lips curve upwards and she follows the direction Jackson was headed, but stops in front of a window. I follow her gaze to see the Dauntless arriving, jumping out of the train passing by. When they land some of them roll, some crouch on the ground and others leap right into a walk, as if their legs were made of steel. "Amazing," I whisper. I look at the small Abnegation girl and she is grinning from ear to ear.

I make my way to Bio, but don't think I didn't see the dirty look the Erudite boy gave me. As if it weren't for the bright clothes, my tanned skin makes me stick out even more in the halls of pale teenagers. At lunch, I find Jackson sitting in the cafe with our neighbors, Scott and his brother Harry. Scott's our age but Harry's a few years younger so he won't be taking the apt test just yet. As I sit down with my tray of chicken and rice, typical Amity food, the boys are in a deep conversation about the factionless.

"Whatdya think, Tori?" asks Harry, bringing my attention to him. Harry is fascinated by the way Candor speak, slurring words together lazily. He unconsciously mimics them, but no one ever scolds him.

"About what?" I say through a mouthful of chicken.

"The factionless, do ya think the Abnegation are doing more harm than good?" He asks, so innocently. Jackson slaps his face and Scott stifles a laugh.

"My dear Harry," I tease him, putting my hands over his, "My opinions tend to upset people, so I keep my mouth shut. Nobody seems to understand the 'agree to disagree' concept. You wanna know what I think?" He nods his head eagerly, "I think the Abnegation are selfless people and feeding the factionless is the kindest thing anyone could possible do in this society. Morally? Ethically? It is the right thing to do. Anyone who disagrees is either an idiot or a fat Erudite." Harry's eyes widen at my words as Jackson and Scott laugh hysterically, their Amity laughter is loud and carries through the cafe, earning some dazed looks from people of other factions.

A volunteer speaks the first round of names and we hear two from Dauntless, two from Erudite, "From Amity: Jackson Argent and Victoria Argent," two from Candor and "From Abnegation: Caleb Prior and Beatrice Prior."

Leaving Scott and Harry with a reassuring smile, I rise and Jackson follows me to the exit. I notice the Abnegation girl and her brother exit as well. They're not twins, I think they just don't have an entire year between them.

Outside the cafe are ten rooms, only ever used for apt tests so I've never been in one. All I know is they're separated by mirrors instead of the glass in other rooms of the school. I catch Beatrice's gaze for a moment and smile at her. She waves back, and steps into her room. I step into room 5 as Jack goes into room 6, the Abnegation siblings head into rooms 9 and 10.

Inside is a volunteer from Abnegation, he's clad in grey robes and his hair is cut short. He gestures towards the chair and I move towards it. All four walls are mirrors and I stare at my reflection as I slide into the stiff chair. I look grim, it's a strange look on an Amity girl so I look up. The lights on the ceiling are too bright and make my eyes watery, so I glance at the man. How many people does he have to test today? God, I feel bad for this guy.

"Why'd you volunteer to do this?" I ask, squinting from the lights.

The man smiles at my curiosity and says, "I volunteered in an act of selflessness."

I nod because I already know this, "Do you remember how you felt for your aptitude test?" I ask. I hope he doesn't feel I'm being too noisy.

"I do remember," He says, "and I was terrified. But there is no reason to be, no matter the outcome of this test you still have the opportunity to choose whichever faction you feel you belong to." He passes me a vial of clear liquid that I drink without question. My eyes close and when they open the kind, selfless Abnegation man is gone. Instead, I stand in the middle of the empty school cafe. In front of me are two baskets, one with cheese and the other with a knife.

"_Choose one_."

I shrug and say "Okay." My instinct is to grab the cheese and eat it, but that would do no good. I grab the knife instead, then the baskets disappear. A door squeaks and I turn to see a vicious canine stalking towards me. I hate dogs. The cheese would've been easier, but the knife comes in handy anyways. The sound of it's sharp claws against the tile brings me to my senses and I know what I have to do. I look it in the eye, hoping to send vibes of aggression. Then I hear footsteps behind me and turn to see a young Harry, maybe seven or eight years old.

"Puppy!" He shouts out. Oh, Harry. I'm so sorry you have to see this. The dog barks at Harry, like a warning, telling him to back off. Harry takes a step forward.

"Harry, no!" I shout out, the dog charges, planning to get passed me and to Harry. With my legs spread apart, I grasp the knife firmly and when it gets close enough, I grab it's collar and shove the knife into it's flesh as hard as I can without looking at it. Blocking Harry's point of view, I look down to see that I buried the knife into it's forehead and with a whimper, it slumps to the ground.

"Puppy?" Harry asks from behind me, as if he knows something's wrong. He takes a step closer.

"Harry, no! Just stay there, okay? Don't come closer" I say with my back towards him, the back of my neck is teaming with sweat and my hands are covered in blood.

"What did you do to the puppy?" He asks, his tone dead.

"N-, Nothing, Harry. The puppy's sleeping, he's very tired." I say, hoping that this kid doesn't come any closer. To see this at such a young age would scare him for the rest of his life.

"You're lying. Did you hurt that puppy?" He asks, this time his voice deep and demonic. The blood keeps oozing and I can't seem to lift the knife out of the lifeless flesh of the dog, I want the knife. The kid behind me is not the Harry I know.

"You're creeping me out here." I say, trying to wrench the knife out.

"Did you kill the puppy?" He asks. I turn back to him, and see his completely black eyes. I take a deep breath and grit my teeth, pulling as hard as I can.

"No. Now go away."

And he turns to leave as I wake back up on the stiff chair in front the the Abnegation man.

My heart is racing in my chest, my neck's sweaty and my hands are so clammy that I have to wipe them on my red pants several times. The man puts his hand on my shoulder and it comforts me. He smiles at me.

"What?" I ask, suddenly defensive.

"I would never had expected an Amity girl to have such results. Congratulations, your aptitude results have decided that the faction best fit for you is..." I hang onto every word he says, leaning as close as I possibly can to him, "Dauntless." I let out the breath I've been holding in relief and smile in victory.

"Thank you so much!" I say to him, shaking his hand. He retaliates the shake but I can tell it's just to humour me.

I let go of his hand and he says, "Not choosing the cheese eliminated the chance of Amity," He explains as I nod my head along eagerly, "Killing the dog suggested Dauntless from the beginning. Lying to the child, in your case Harry, erradicated the possibility of Candor. You killed the dog to protect the child and you didn't want him to see what you had done which would suggest Abnegation, but you tried to pull the knife out to protect yourself against him which ruled out that possibility. Erudite always check the collar of the dog, so that was ruled out too." One he's finished, I nod. He lets me go and I head back towards the cafe and sit with Scott and Harry. They look at me expectantly, and I just smile in return until Jackson sits down next to me a few minutes later.

"Alright?" I ask, an eyebrow raised.

"Alright. You?" He smiles at me. I smile back.


	3. Chapter 3: The Flower Crown

_**A/N: If you can't tell, I'm trying to prove a point. I based Amity off of some Indian culture, and I think their skin tone is Indian too. Abnegation, Dauntless, Erudite and Candor all seem sort of American/British/Canadian culture. I'm not trying to be racist, I'm trying to make Tori and Jack feel like a minority because, come on, no one takes Amity seriously and so they already feel segregated.**_

* * *

We linger for a while just for Scott, who comes back from the apt test looking triumphant. I wonder if he got Amity, he doesn't seem like a typical Amity boy. Scott's dad offers us a ride home and we accept because truth be told, taking the bus is undesirable. Too many people. Mom and Dad don't have a car, they say all this work to create green energy would be a waste if we release carbon every time we need to leave the house. It also means Jackson and I take the bus a lot. We hop into the back of his truck where Harry plucks away on a guitar (rather badly) to make fun of Scott, and Scott climbs through the window and joins us after a while. He steals the guitar from his brother and begins to play gracefully. I crawl until I sit next to Harry and begin to sing, then Scott joins in, then Jackson and Harry. We pass by a group of Abnegation walking and one of them stares at us in awe, so we sing even louder. My voice is very different when compared to Jackson, Scott and Harry. They have deep voices but when they sing it sounds like they're just speaking in a melodonic tone. I have my mother's singing voice, with a range and I am passionate about singing. None of the other factions seem like they sing.

I look at Scott, who has the same bronze skin we do and I know this isn't from working in the sun. If I transferred to another faction, say Erudite, and had a child, they would still have the golden skin of Amity.

When we get home, Jackson stops me before I open the door to go inside.

He says solemnly, "Tomorrow's an important day," I nod my head in confirmation, "Wear something nice, yeah?" I laugh and we enter the house together, as we always do.

In front of me on an old plate embroided with a design resembling tree branches is lamb and rice. It's better than what is served at school, or maybe I just think that because I was raised on this food. If someone from, say Candor, found out we eat lamb, they would be disgusted. I know because it's happened before, when I was just a child. A Candor boy pretended to vomit and said "How can you eat lamb? That's so gross! It's just a baby!" and I had no retort. But ever since then, I can't help but notice that they eat "beef" and "pork", which to me is absolutely disgusting. Why not just call it what it is, cow and pigs? It riddles me with guilt when I eat lamb because this memory always resurfaces, but my mom's lamb curry is finger-licking delicious. All Amity food is smothered with spices and herbs.

Within Amity, there are four different classes. They determine status in society, what you eat and how spiritually connected you are to God. I think it's bullshit.

The lowest class, the Simpletons, are the ones that eat cows and pigs, along with all other sorts of animals.

The second lowest, the Exceptables, don't eat pigs but they do eat cows, chicken, and seafood.

The next one, the Wellingtons, eat chicken and lamb, along with seafood.

The highest one, that's us, is split into two divisions. The extremists, or Vegans, that don't eat any meat or consume anything that comes from an animal like milk or cheese, and us, the Welcomed, who are either vegetarian or eat some meats like chicken, lamb or seafood.

My parents cook seafood but the only meat Jack and I eat are chicken and lamb. Which class you belong to is determined by the family you're born into and if you're a transfer then you belong to the lowest class. It's barbaric and I hate the ideology behind it, to think that somehow you're status in society is determined by your blood. I think it should be determined by your level of skill and ability. I take a bite of the lamb and my taste buds explode, it's spicy and delicious and before I know it my plate is clean.

* * *

_**Next Morning**_

I get out of the cold shower to find clothes and a flower crown sprawled on my bed. Fancy clothes for a fancy day, right? Except Amity don't wear fancy clothes. It's a short red shirt with sleeves that go half way down my arms and ends just a few inches under my breasts and a long dark red skirt that I pull just over my waist and it reaches my toes. If it weren't for the fact that my skin is showing, it would've looked like a dress. I leave my long hair open and put the beautiful flower crown on, then tuck some hair from the edge of my face into the crown. For my sixteenth birthday, my mom got me something I have been asking for since I was a child. Some make up. And now I finally have an excuse to wear it without being asked 'what's the occasion?' I take art classes at school, something other factions don't take seriously, so I know all sorts of tips and tricks to create illusions on the human face. I take some brown eye shadow and fill in my eyebrows, which makes me look regal and sharp. Next, I take a dark brown powder and exaggerate the shadows on my face. I highlight the areas I think would look best on me. I draw a thin line on my eyelid with black gel and I already feel prettier. I don't like the way lipstick feels on me so I skip that and eat some juicy strawberries instead. My dad sees me eating in the kitchen and his eyes begin to water just as Jackson's coming down the stairs. I run out the door with Jackson as fast as I can. Scott's dad was kind enough to offer us a ride again, so this time Scott's parents and our parent's squeeze inside the truck while the four of us sat in the back. It felt good to leave my hair open in the wind, it's long but very thick and wavy and luscious like some of the women in Erudite, but I heard they heat up their hair with curling rods to get it to look that way.

When we get to the Hub, a crowd of Candor are smoking in front of the building. As much as I dislike their values, I have always been curious about cigarettes. Of course, Amity doesn't sell cigarettes, they say it's closely tied to aggression. I disagree, I think it calms people down the way the peace serum does, except with smoking people choose willingly to do so. When we get inside I see the Prior siblings waiting for the elevator with their parents in a big group of Abnegation, this year it was Abnegation's turn to host the Choosing Ceremony. Their father lets us through and they take the stairs instead. What kind people they are, a little strange, but so selfless. To get to the Choosing Ceremony, we need to go to the twentieth floor. I wonder if Mr. Prior knew that when he led all those Abnegation people to the stairs. When we choose, we'll be called up in an alphabetical order but we are permitted to sit with our families. Then once we've chosen our faction, we sit in the first few rows of the section that are currently now all empty. We make our way to the Amity section where we pass familiar faces and wave hello and embrace one another. The Hub fills in quickly and we find our seats, I sit inbetween Jack and Scott. Since our last name is Argent, we will be the first to choose, after Scott. I am not anxious, as I anticipated myself to be today. Instead I am excited, adrenaline pulsing through my veins spreading courage through every ounce of my body. Then Marcus Eaton, an Abnegation leader, steps up infront of the crowd and the conversations simmer to a minimum of none at all. On the circular white stage before all the sections are five large white bowls, each representing one of the factions. In Dauntless, coals. Candor has glass, Abnegation has stones, Erudite has water. The other factions say Amity has dirt, but that's a lie. Amity does not have dirt, it has _soil_. There is a huge difference.

We have to cut our hand and bleed into the bowl that represents the faction we choose to belong to.

Marcus begins to speak and I'm sure it's a nice speech because I know he's a charming guy, I've seen him speak before. Whatever he's saying, I'm not listening to it. I'm too pumped, too wired. Jack is nonchalant, but Scott's shaking his leg rapidly so I grab his hand and squeeze gently. He stops shaking his leg and squeezes back, hard. His hands are cold and moist, incredibly clammy.

I hear a round of applause, then Marcus says, "Scott Aborne, please step forward." We rise to leave him room to walk and as he gets up shakily from his seat, I give him a kiss on the cheek as he walks by. He stares at me for a few seconds in disbelief, then grins all the way down to the bowls.

Taking our seats again, Jackson pokes me in the arm and I swat his hand away. Sure, I've thought of Scott that way several times before but that's not why I kissed him. That was to tell him that he needs to pursue the faction he believes in, and we both knew that wasn't Amity. We see Scott cut his hand with the knife Marcus presents him with, then his arm reaches above the soil. He looks back at me in the crowd and I smile at him, then before his blood drips into soil, he moves it over the water and becomes an Erudite initiate. The erudite clap for him, and so do I. Then other Amity members join in too, though some whisper and glare. I look over at Scott's family and his parents are smiling politely, though it seems like their eyes are watery. Harry, however, is beaming at his older brother and applauding loudly. He takes a seat in the Erudite section and the applause dies out.

"Jackson Argent"

Jackson walks nonchalantly down to the bowls. If I could describe my brother in one word, it would be nonchalant. Though, sometimes he can be a real wuss. I realize that both seats beside me are now empty, and I feel proud. Jackson cuts his hand and I hear the sizzle on the coal. I begin applauding even before the Dauntless do, but once they start it takes a while for them to calm down. My mom is beaming at him but my dad wipes away tears and he claps quietly. Then the cheers fade and silence falls.

"Victoria Argent"


	4. Chapter 4: Illmerica

"Victoria Argent"

Oh _shit_, that's me. I leap to my feat and smile as I walk with my shoulders down, neck elongated. I set my eyes on the bowls and don't take my eyes off until I'm right infront of them. As I use the sharp blade to cut through my flesh, I can feel stares boring into my back. How strange I must look to most of them. My skin showing, flowers in my hair, my red clothes must be vibrant against the white glowing stage. I stretch my arm out over the coals and I hear the sizzle of my blood. I turn and the Dauntless go insane. Some of the Amity applaud politely, but they've noticed the other factions don't do that. I show my straight teeth as I smile, my dimples matching the ones on Jackson's face. The Dauntless don't just clap. They cheer and shout and whistle and pump their fists and stomp their feet so as I walk towards their section I raise both hands and cheer with them, causing them to cheer louder. My mom is smiling in approval, but my dad is crying. He doesn't clap for me, he doesn't even look at me. I thought he would be proud of me for leaving. Jackson stands and flicks my hair, and I punch him in the arm, getting a few laughs out of the Dauntless crowd. A few sections over I see Scott and he's smiling at me. He looks proud.

Once the last person has chosen, the Dauntless are the first to leave. It starts as a walk, but people quickly begin to press forward towards the stairs. If there's one thing I can do, it's run down stairs really fast. Even Jack gets frustrated at how fast I can go down the stairs. The strange this is, I've never fallen down the stairs, I've only ever fallen going up. Even in this skirt I know I can whip by all these Dauntless born initiates. One look at Jack says I shouldn't. I would definitely lose him in this crowd. The Dauntless begin to run and I keep the pace of the crowd, a new sort of energy bursting inside me. Laughter and bursts of cheers are spread, Jack glances at me and we let out a whoop of excitement.

"What the hell is going on?" Someone asks, I turn my head behind me to see an Erudite transfer and I smile at him. He didn't ask me the question, he asked an Abnegation transfer. He asked Beatrice Prior. When we get to the first floor, the sky is orange from the sunset and the Dauntless head out to the streets. We follow the crowd around a corner until we hear a train horn.

"No way!" Jackson shouts with excitement. I have only ever seen the Dauntless do this a few times, the last time was with Beatrice but they were just jumping off, they weren't trying to jump on. They begin to climb pillars and I follow their lead, pulling myself up onto the platform. The Dauntless spread themselves out in a line and it's almost over before it even started. The train comes so fast, I run with the line and watch them jump on, then I realize that most of them are already on. I break out into a sprint and grab onto the handle, setting my foot on the groove. I help Jack grab a hold of the train, then I hoist myself in after him. I roll into someone and mutter a breathless apology, my heart racing. I rolled into a Candor transfer and Beatrice. We burst into uneasy laughter together. Then we hear shouts from outside and an Erudite transfer is still trying to get onto the train. Someone tries to help him get in but he's too far behind. He's factionless, now. The Dauntless won't take him, he's failed their first test.

"You all right?" the Candor girl I rolled into asks briskly. She's short, with dark brown skin and edgy hair. Beatrice nods and I smile. "I'm Christina," she says, offering Beatrice her hand. They shake hands and it looks very stiff and awkward.

"Beatrice," She says. They turn to me.

"Victoria." I say with a friendly wave, "But call me Tori,"

"You've been on this train for a total of 3 nanoseconds, how have you already made friends?" Jack intervenes, a mischievous smile on his lips, "Did she threaten you guys, or what?" I flick him in the face and Beatrice laughs. Christina just stares at us, looking from Jack to me to back to him. "Uh, yeah. We're twins," Jackson adds uncomfortably. Together, we decipher that we're on our way to Dauntless headquarters. Unfortunately no one knows where that is.

"They're jumping off!"

"Uh, no they're not. Don't tell me they're jumping off," Christina says, as if she's annoyed with Dauntless's annoying pranks. Peering out of the car, I see that whoever shouted is right. The Dauntless in the first few cars are jumping out onto a rooftop. We are seven stories high. I'm pumped.

People form a line but no one seems to want to go first. I send Jackson a challenging look, raising my eyebrows.

"Together?" He asks. I nod.

Two Candor transfers bicker back and forth and a boy from Amity that I faintly recognize refuses to jump. Christina tries to convince him, but it doesn't seem like he's changing his mind any time soon.

He says something that catches my attention,

"I'd rather be factionless than dead" Do people really hold the factionless in such low standards? To think that being factionless can be compared to death is ridiculous to me.

Jackson and I get a running start, we leap over the gap between the tracks and the rooftop and time seems to slow down for a moment. Jackson rolls to a stop but it feels like I have all the time in the world to land, and somehow, I manage to land on my feet. I check on Jackson as the Candor transfers jump, he pokes me in the face and I know he's alright. Next follow Beatrice and Christina. Someone screams and a girl, Rita, is teetering on the edge of the rooftop, a boy trying to calm her down and pull her towards safety. Beatrice peers over the ledge of the rooftop. My guess is not everybody made it. I don't see the other Amity boy, either. Beatrice inspects a scrape on her arm and the Candor transfer, Peter, teases her for showing skin. To this, I hike my skirt up to my thighs and march past him towards the other initiates.

In front of me, a handsome man of authority beings to speak. The Dauntless cheer and laugh and do crazy things all the time, but I can't imagine this man cheering or laughing or doing something fun. I can imagine him sitting by himself in his room plucking limbs off of spiders. He is Jackson's height and has hard green eyes that scrutinize us. His hair is short on the sides of his head but long and styled on the top, in a quiff. His chiseled jaw is set hard, like he swallowed something sour.

"Listen up! My name is Eric, I am one of the leaders of your new faction" He has pale white skin, with tattoos covering his neck and arms. I can't help but stare at the giant piercing in his forehead. He perches on the ledge like it's a sidewalk, as if someone didn't just fall to their death from it. "Several stories below us is the members' entrance to our compound. If you can't muster the will to jump off, you don't belong here. Our initiates have the privilege of going first."

I'm not surprised. Did I hear right? Did he say members entrance? Does that mean there is more than one way to enter the compound?

"You want us to jump off a ledge?" Christina asks in disbelief.

"Yes," Says an amused Eric.

"Is there water at the bottom or something?" One of the transfers asks.

"I guess you'll find out." He replies.

Those that are already members of Dauntless move out of the way for us. I can do this. I can jump off a ledge into a dark scary hole, no problem. Because the other Dauntless are prepared to do it, they know that there is no risk jumping into that hole. I'll do it. I look around, expecting the Dauntless born initiates to throw themselves at the chance to possibly die. But nobody wants to go first. I look at Beatrice, who is thinking to herself. If anyone deserves to indulge in the selfishness of basking in the glory of being a first jumper, it would be Beatrice. I tap her arm softly and she looks at me, nodding her head. She'll jump, she's proud and I know she will go first.

"Well, who's gonnna be first?" Eric asks with a smirk.

I look at the Dauntless born once again, they are pathetic. Even an Abnegation transfer is willing to jump but they look like they regret choosing the faction they were born into.

"Me," She say confidently. She walks forward and clutches to the ledge, then stands and stares at the ground. She just takes a step off, then she's gone. That's not what I was planning on doing.

Jackson looks at me like I'm insane, maybe I am.

"Who's next?" Eric asks impatiently. I clear my throat and he points over the ledge expectantly.

I think he expects me to walk slowly to the ledge and close my eyes on the way down. So I do the opposite of that. I run towards the edge of the building, use the ledge to push myself away and flip my body in the air so I face the sky. My hands are spread out and I let out a "WHOO" of excitement until the momentum stops and I bounce against something. My heart is beating so fast I can feel it in my throat. I look at what I landed on, and it's a net. I let laughter escape my lips, those initiates up there are so scared, and I would line up to do that again. Hands stretch out to me at the edge of the net so I grab the first one I can reach and pull myself across. I roll off, and would've fallen face-first onto a stone floor if this guy had not caught me. This guy. He's handsome but very... brooding. He also looks like he would pluck limbs off of spiders.

"What's your name?" He asks in a deep, rumbling voice.

"Vi-" I hesitate, "Tori." He nods at me.

A dark haired girl with three eyebrow piercings puts her hands on my shoulders and says "Welcome to Dauntless, Tori" in my ear. I didn't see her before. A crowd of Dauntless cheer but I can't see them.

I see Beatrice lingering in the background and I walk towards her, both of us with big stupid grins on our faces. It's too dark in here, the hole lets in some skylight but there are no lights. I've spent my whole life in Amity, where we are constantly in sunlight. The Dauntless compound doesn't look like it gets much sunlight.

"Beatrice!" I exclaim, my hands in the air, but she raises a hand to stop me.

"Tris," She corrects me.

"Ooh, Tris. A mighty fine name for the first jumper!" I say, poking her in the belly.

"Yeah, all thanks to you," She says with a sincere smile.

I say, "I doubt it, I bet you would've gone first even if I wasn't here" just as Jackson falls down through the hole, screaming with excitement just as I did. My eyes have adjusted and I can now see the ring of Dauntless around the net. The brooding guy and the girl with three eyebrow piercings help him off the net, and then the crowd of Dauntless do a double-take, and a triple-take, and some even do a quadruple-take. Amity twins transferring to Dauntless must be a new thing for them. When asked for a name, he replies with Jack. Victoria and Jackson are gone now, it's just Tori and Jack, the ways it's always been.


	5. Chapter 5: Just A Little Filling

_**A/N: I know there isn't much going on at the moment, chapter 5 and 6 are just fillers until I get the chance to really work on the next chapter. **_

* * *

Once everybody's on the ground, the brooding guy and the girl with piercings stand before us.

"Dauntless born go with Lauren, transfers stay with me." Says the guy. I would've liked to go with Lauren instead. We watch as Lauren escorts the Dauntless born away. They have an advantage, being born into Dauntless. They can run faster and hit harder but when it comes to bravery and courage, I guess that's down to anyone. Jumping definitely proved that.

He addresses us next. "Most of the time I work in intelligence but for the next few weeks, I'll be your instructor." He says, pacing quickly. My eyes follow his every stride, he has a presence that is hard to ignore. "My name's Four." Four? Interesting. I wonder what it means. Has he killed four people? He must be a transfer if he has a nickname like that. Maybe Erudite? I notice the way Beatrice looks at him and I don't blame her. He's handsome, in a scary kind of way.

"Four? Like the number?" Christina asks. I almost slap myself in the face. Christina! What are you doing? I wouldn't talk out or interrupt this guy, he looks like he could kill a man with his thumb!

"Yes," Four says with an frightening smile, "Is there a problem?"

"What happened, One, Two and Three were already taken?" She asks. I put my hand on her back, warning her to shut her mouth before he stabs her or something.

He looks at his feet before asking, "What's your name?"

"Christina," She squeaks. Oh, girl. You are done for. Four walks until he's inches away from her, his hands on her shoulders.

"Well, Christina, the first lesson you learn from me if you want to survive here is to keep your mouth shut." Christina's hands are behind her back and I grab one and squeeze hard. "Do you understand?" She nods. He backs off and walks away, turning and adding "Follow me, we're going to the Pit."

"The Pit?" Christina snorts, quietly enough so she doesn't think Four hears her. But I think he does. We struggle to keep up with Four, the halls are dark and he's swift. He leads us to stairs that clang and clamor all the way down from our footsteps. Through cold halls with cement walls we turn a corner where Four pushes a set of double doors open, and we walk into the place he referred to as "the Pit."

"Oh," whispers Christina. "I get it."

"The Pit" is a fitting name. We now face an underground cavern so enormous that I can't even see the end of it from where we stand, at the bottom. Uneven rock walls rise several stories above our heads and built into the stone walls are places for food, clothing, supplies, and some other stuff. They actually built stores into the walls? Nice. Connecting everything are narrow paths and steps carved from rock, and their are no barriers or rails to keep people from falling over the side. Sunlight stretches across one of the rock walls and I look up to see panes of glass that form the roof. Actual light from the sun is being let in. I think I'll spend a lot of time here.

As the precious sunlight fades, eerie blue lanterns dangling above the stone paths grow brighter.

The Dauntless are everywhere, all dressed in black. Shouting, talking, laughing. Some of the them look at us and point, smiling. I see a bunch of them passing a baseball back and forth roughly, aiming for heads and stomachs. In another area people are fighting, whether they're practicing or actually pissed off at each other I can't tell. This is the center of life for the Dauntless and I can't wait to walk around. The baseball is thrown at someone with force, but they dodge it and the ball ricochets off of something and heads in our direction. It seems to fly so slowly that my hand is ready to grab it before it comes anywhere near us. My hand is extended infront of Jack's face when I catch the ball.

Someone shouts "Nice catch!" and I smile.

Another voice, belonging to a boy with blue hair shouts, "Hey hippie! Pass the ball!" That was rude.

I pass him the ball, pitching with as much force as I can. The boy does't show it, but it hurts him to catch the ball.

"If you follow me," says Four, "I'll show you the chasm."

He leads us to the right side of the Pit, which is conspicuously dark. As we approach the railing, I hear a roar—water, fast-moving water, crashing against rocks.

I peer over the side, curiosity getting the better of me, and Jack grabs my arm. He's gentle, but he wants me to be careful. The floor drops off at a sharp angle, and several stories below us is a river. Gushing water strikes the wall beneath me and sprays upward. To my left, the water is calmer, but to my right, it is white, battling with rock.

"The chasm reminds us that there is a fine line between bravery and idiocy!" Four shouts. "A daredevil jump off this ledge will end your life. It has happened before and it will happen again. You've been warned."

Four leads us away, down another corridor to our bunks."You're going to be sleeping here for the next ten weeks." Initiation takes ten weeks? I don't think any of the other factions take as long as that. The twelve beds are spread out across the room, night stands next to all of them, there are twelve beds, but only eleven of us. All the beds are really close together. I peer around the corner and I can see the bathrooms. Please tell me there are separate bathrooms.

"Boys or girls?" Asks someone, I think his name is Will.

Well, Will, what do you think? Did you really except the Dauntless to respect decency or privacy?

"Both," answers Four. Peter, the Candor transfer, lets out a whistle. "If you like this you're going to love the bathroom." Four seems to be enjoying this. The bathroom, if you can call it that, is separated in half by a curtain, boys on the left and girls on the right. Against the wall are five showers and there are rows of toilets out in the open. Great. "Get changed." Four says before leaving.

"Shower, anyone?" Peter teases. Molly snorts, and she sounds like an actual pig.

I open a nightstand of a bed near the back of the dorm and take out some comfy black pants. I throw on a baggy black T-shirt with a V neck line, showing off my collar bones and I take off my thin soled sandals and put on black socks and black and white sneakers. I throw on the initiate's jacket over top. I put my hair into a high pony tail, finally taking the flower crown off and I sit on the bed, waiting for the others as I inspect my crown. It's embedded with small flowers, some pink, some white. My mom always puts yellow flowers, so my dad must've made this. I shove the crown into the nightstand and grab my former clothes. Outside, Four waits for us. He leads us to a giant flaming furnace where we have to throw in our clothes. I'm glad I kept the crown.

Then, Four leads us across the Pit, towards a gaping hole in the wall. The room we head towards casts light in our direction, making it easier to see. We're headed towards a dining hall where there's chatter and laughter and clattering of silverware, somewhere in the back someone drops something causing a clang to echo towards us. Walking in, the Dauntless stand and applaud us, they stomp and shout and cheer. I smile at the welcome, and a few seconds later Jack does too. We scan for empty seats and follow Tris and Christina to table at the side of the hall. Somehow, I find myself sitting across Jack, inbetween Tris and Christina. Next to Tris is Four.

In the center of the table is a platter of food, _burgers_. Tris pinches one between her fingers, hesistating. I glance at Jack and he looks at me nervously. At the end of the table are some apples, and I grab a few of those instead.

Four nudges Tris with his elbow.

"It's beef," he says. "Put this on it." He passes her a small bowl full of red sauce.

"Have you never seen a burger before?" asks Christina, her eyes wide.

"No," She say. "I've seen burgers, I've just never eaten one."

"Abnegation eat plain food. Plant based, no sauces, minimum seasoning." Says Will, the boy right of Jack.

"Which textbook did you swallow?" Asks Christina, earning a chuckle from the boy on the left of Jack.

"Nice to meet you too. I'm Will. Erudite." He points to the boy left of Jack and says, "This is Al. Candor." I'm surprised he still refers to himself as Erudite, especially with Four sitting so close.

"Of course you are," Christina says, nodding her head. "No offence, but I'm surprised Abnegation even eats at all, too selfish, right? No wonder you left."

"Yeah," Tris say, rolling her eyes. "It was just because of the food."

The corner of Four's mouth twitches.

"Well, you gotta be pretty self confident to be friends with a Candor." says Jack. I grin at him, I'm surprised he spoke up. "I'm Jack, that's Tori."

"What is that supposed to mean?" Christina cries as Jack and I stifle laughter.

"You have no filter! You say the first thing that comes into your head," retorts Will.

"Hmm, like you're an idiot." Says Al.

"Nice, Al. Atleast we tell the truth." Christina says as-a-mater-of-factly. "So you two are Amity twins?" She asks, pointing to me and Jack. Will's about to say something witty about Erudite, but he's cut off by Four.

"I don't want to hear any more about your old factions." All our eyes turn to him, and he clearly doesn't like it so he turns away, saying, "You're Dauntless now."

"Were you a transfer too? Or Dauntless born?" Tris asks him. Perhaps Tris is braver than I give her credit for, or maybe she's just suicidal.

He turns his head towards her and says, "Are you kidding?"

"No," Tris replies.

"What makes you think you can talk to me," He asks, as if he's godlike and amoungst peasants.

"It must be because you're so approachable." Tris retorts. Jack and I both snort, and I cover my mouth with my hand, hiding my smirk. Four stares at her until she looks away.

"Careful." He says before taking a sip from his cup.

Tris turns her attention back to us, where Christina squints at her.

"What?" She asks.

"I'm developing a theory."

"And it is?"

She picks up her burger, grins, and says, "That you have a death wish."

I say, "I second that theory" just as Eric sits down next to Four and our table goes silent. It isn't the piercings or the tattoos that make him look so menacing, it's the coldness of his eyes. He doesn't greet Four or the rest of us, so we don't say anything to him. I can't bring myself to look at him for more than a few seconds, so I look at Jack. His eyes are trained on an apple. Al, however, can't tear his eyes off of Eric. He's full on staring with his mouth gaping and all.

"Well, aren't you going to introduce me?" Eric says to Four, nodding to Christina, Tris and I.

"This is Christina, Tori, and Tris." Says Four, devoid of emotion. I decide to look at Eric, and his eyes are trained on me. He does a double-take between Jack and I, and laughs. Then he looks at Tris.

"Ooh, a Stiff." says Eric, smiling. The smile looks odd on his face, the way not smiling looks odd on mine. "We'll see how long you last."


	6. Chapter 6: Red Hot Chili Peppers

After dinner, Four disappears without a word. Eric leads us down a series of hallways without telling us where we're going. I don't know why a Dauntless leader would be responsible for a group of initiates, but maybe it is just for tonight.

At the end of each hallway is a blue lamp, but between them it's dark, and I have to be careful not to stumble over uneven ground. Jack walks beside me in silence.

Eric stops in front of a wooden door and folds his arms. We gather around him.

"For those of you who don't know, my name is Eric," he says. "I am one of five leaders of the Dauntless. We take the initiation process very seriously here, so I volunteered to oversee most of your training."

The thought makes me nauseous. The idea that a Dauntless leader will oversee our initiation is bad enough, but the fact that it's Eric makes it seem even worse.

"Some ground rules," he says. "You have to be in the training room by eight o'clock every day. Training takes place from eight to six, with a break for lunch. You are free to do whatever you like after six. You will also get some time off between each stage of initiation."

The phrase "do whatever you like" sticks in my mind. I like to sing and paint and draw and read. I take it I won't be able to do that here. Maybe I'll just go back to the Pit, take a look around.

"You are only permitted to leave the compound when accompanied by a Dauntless," Eric adds. "Behind this door is the room where you will be sleeping for the next few weeks. Four has already shown you around. You will notice that there are twelve beds and only eleven of you. We anticipated that a higher proportion of you would make it this far."

"But we started with fourteen," protests Christina. Oh Christina, Four is one thing but talking out against Eric, a Dauntless leader is another.

"There is always at least one transfer who doesn't make it to the compound," says Eric, picking at his cuticles. He shrugs. "Anyway, in the first stage of initiation, we keep transfers and Dauntless-born initiates separate, but that doesn't mean you are evaluated separately. At the end of initiation, your rankings will be determined in comparison with the Dauntless-born initiates. And they are better than you are already. So I expect—"

"Rankings?" asks an Erudite transfer to my right. "Why are we ranked?" Why don't you shut your mouth so that Eric can get to that.

Eric smiles, and in the blue light, he looks eerily handsome.

"Your ranking serves two purposes," he says. "The first is that it determines the order in which you will select a job after initiation. There are only a few desirable positions available. The second purpose," he pauses to build anticipation, "is that only the top twelve initiates are made members."

Pain stabs my stomach. We all stand still as statues. And then Christina says, "What?"

"There are eleven Dauntless-borns, and eleven of you," Eric continues. "Four initiates will be cut at the end of stage one. The remainder will be cut after the final test."

That means that even if we make it through each stage of initiation, ten initiates will not be members. I look at Tris right away but she doesn't look back. She just stares at Eric. Being the smallest here and from Abnegation doesn't give her any advantages.

"What do we do if we're cut?" Peter says. Nobody wants to know the answer.

"You leave the Dauntless compound," says Eric indifferently, "and live factionless."

The Erudite transfer clamps her hand over her mouth and stifles a sob.

"But that's…not fair!" Molly, says. Even though she sounds angry, she looks terrified. "If we had known—"

"Are you saying that if you had known this before the Choosing Ceremony, you wouldn't have chosen Dauntless?" Eric snaps. "Because if that's the case, you should get out now. If you are really one of us, it won't matter to you that you might fail. And if it does, you are a coward." Eric is right. Even with this knowledge, my desire to become Dauntless hasn't faltered, it has only flared into a more intense desire.

Eric pushes the door to the dormitory open. He's a very dramatic guy.

"You chose us," he says. "Now we have to choose you."

As I lay in bed I know sleep will be impossible. My mom and dad haunt my thoughts, and I think of visiting day. Will they come? I would love to see them, but I don't think I want them to see me. I hear someone sobbing, and I know it's Al. Tris is right by him and I can tell she's awake, so why doesn't she comfort him? Maybe she doesn't know how. With a sigh, I lug myself off my bed and sit on the edge of Al's. He feels my weight next to him and wipes away the tears as he's about to get up, embarrassed. I stop him, and he lies back down. All I do is put one hand on his back and with the other I hold his hand until he falls asleep minutes later.

* * *

"The first thing you will learn today is how to shoot a gun. The second thing is how to win a fight." Four presses a gun into my palm without looking at me and keeps walking. "Thankfully, if you are here, you already know how to get on and off a moving train, so I don't need to teach you that."

I'm too tired for this shit, Four. Please stop talking and let me get some coffee. Amity didn't have coffee, but everytime I went to school I tried to get some. I know they have it here.

"Initiation is divided into three stages. We will measure your progress and rank you according to your performance in each stage. The stages are not weighed equally in determining your final rank, so it is possible, though difficult, to drastically improve your rank over time."

The gun I hold in my hand feels powerful and dangerous. I like it.

"We believe that preparation eradicates cowardice, which we define as the failure to act in the midst of fear," says Four. "Therefore each stage of initiation is intended to prepare you in a different way. The first stage is primarily physical; the second, primarily emotional; the third, primarily mental."

"But what…" Peter yawns through his words. "What does firing a gun have to do with…bravery?" His yawn is contagious, and Molly yawns too.

Four aims his gun at Peter mid-yawn, and he looks like he's going to piss his pants. Maybe Four isn't so much different than Eric after all.

"Wake. Up," Four snaps. "You are holding a loaded gun, you idiot._ Act like it_."

Four lowers his gun and Eric has to stop himself from spazzing, I can see it in his Candor green eyes.

"And to answer your question…you are far less likely to soil your pants and cry for your mother if you're prepared to defend yourself." Four stops walking at the end of the row and turns on his heel. "This is also information you may need later in stage one. So, watch me." Information we need after stage one? Okay, focus time.

He faces the wall with the targets on it—one square of plywood with three red circles on it for each of us. He stands with his feet apart, holds the gun in both hands, and fires. The bang is so loud it hurts my ears. The bullet went through dead centre of the middle circle.

I turn to my own target. My parents would never approve of me firing a gun. They would say that guns are used for violence and aggression, and conflict can be easily avoided with out them.

I push my family from my mind, and try to mimic everything Four did. I set my feet shoulder-width apart, and wrap both hands around the gun. It's cold. I almost drop it when Tris fires her gun first. She fires again and again and misses everytime.

"Statistically speaking," Will says, grinning at her, "you should have hit the target at least once by now, even by accident." He is blond, with shaggy hair and a crease between his eyebrows, I can't see him in Erudite, reading a book. His body is large and packed with muscles.

I look back to my target and try to take in what Four did right and what Tris did wrong. She's holding the gun too far away and she's clearly afraid of it.

Again, I set my feet apart and put both hands around the trigger. I take my time, aim, breathe, and I pull the trigger with ease. Looking at the target, I hit a little left of the centre of the middle circle.

Jack pats me on the back, laughing, and says, "Remind me not to piss you off," I smile back at him.

We keep shooting and it seems like Jack's as equally as good with a gun as I am. Tris takes a while longer, but she gets the hang of it after five rounds.

By the time we break for lunch, everyone's arms are burning from the kick of the guns.

Christina invites Al over, and Will walks towards our table.

"Can I sit here?" says Will, tapping the table with his finger.

"What, you don't want to hang out with your Erudite buddies?" says Christina.

"They aren't my buddies," says Will, setting his plate down. "Just because we were in the same faction doesn't mean we get along."

There's chicken wings and I am so happy. They're bland, but there's seasonings on the table and I coat my chicken wings with them. Jack, who sits across me, spots something at the end of the table.

"Hey, Al, can you pass that?" Jack asks. Al nods, avoiding my eye, and passes a small bowl of something to Jack.

"Are those-" I start

"Mhhmm" He answers, scooping it out onto his plate.

"Hey! Don't take all of it!" I whine, grabbing the bowl from his hands.

"What is it?" Tris asks from beside me.

"I hold in my hand, a bowl full of crushed chili peppers!" I say, practically squeaking with excitement. I take three heaping spoonfulls and put it in my plate, mixing it in with the salt and garlic. Tris looks stumped.

"Amity food was full of spices and herbs, we like our food spicey." Jack explains.

"But you didn't eat those beef burgers, I thought Amity only ate fruits and vegetables." Tris says.

"Amity has different classes, all of which eat different types of food. I'm guessing these two are either the Welling or the Welcomed." says Will. Jack swallows and looks at me, but I continue eating my excessively spicy chicken wings. I will not say a single word on this topic.

"We were the Welcomed," says Jack. Next to us, Christina and Al stop their conversation about school.

"I just thought since you two were from Amity, you must've _worked_ on farms a lot." Christina interrupts, Will snickers. I just stare at her. There's a joke with Erudite and Candor about Amity, that they have orgies on farms all the time. Not true. I've also only ever been on a farm once when I was a child and I hated it.

"Yeah. We played banjos and had sex on farms" I say shortly. Jack, who was drinking water, chokes and starts coughing. Al breaks into laughter and Tris covers her mouth to hide her smirk. Will looks surprised but Christina gives me a look of approval.

"Sorry, am I being rude?" she asks. "I'm used to just saying whatever is on my mind. Mom used to say that politeness is deception in pretty packaging."

"I think that's why our factions don't usually associate with each other," Tris says, with a short laugh. Candor and Abnegation don't hate each other the way Erudite and Abnegation do, but they avoid each other. Candor's real problem is with Amity. Those who seek peace above all else, they say, will always deceive to keep the water calm. Which is true, I suppose. But those who seek truth above all else with create conflict for it.


	7. Chapter 7: Rumble And Sway

After lunch, Four leads us to a new room. It's massive, with all sorts of mats and rings. There's a foul stench in the air, the powerful odour of sweat and the bitter scent of blood. My guess is we're going to start fighting. There's an electronic scoreboard with all our names on it in alphabetical order. I'm second. One side of the room holds black punching bags, just the sight makes my hands clammy. I've never had the need to fight, I got into a lot as a child but I quickly learned that fighting is the worst thing someone can do in Amity. I was taught to keep silent, no matter how much something bothers me. I've never gotten the chance to strengthen my arm muscles. Four stands in front of us where we can all see him, Eric lingers in the background.

Right now, we're supposed to go over technique, then tomorrow we fight. Four names a few different punches, demonstrating each one as he does, first against the air and then against the punching bag. I watch very closely, scrutinizing his every move. They way his feet move, which direction they point in, where he hits, which part of the hand he uses, how long he gives himself. It's a lot to take in, but I need to know everything. I need to win that fight tomorrow. Four shows us some basic kicks and I plan to use those to my advantage, I think everyone else is more eager to throw a punch than a kick.

We start practising on the punching bags, and all around me is the sound of skin hitting tough fabric.

Four wanders through the crowd of initiates, watching us as we go through the movements and giving advice. When he stops in front of me, I feel like throwing up. He stares at me because that's his job. I want to freeze until he's gone, but I know he could give me valuable information. So I think back to his form and try to mimic it, throwing a few different punches that don't move the punching bag very much. Instead, I turn to the kicks, turning my body, extending my legs, bending knees. Four nods in approval. Hoorah. He moves on with out giving me advice. Four walks over to Tris and man, the sexual tension is high. Tris may not have seen it, but I definitely did.

I continue punching, extending my arms and pounding away at the tough fabric of the bag. All attempts seem futile. My punches are too weak.

"You've got muscle in your legs, use those to your advantage." Eric says from behind me. Yeah, I already know that. God, where did he come from anyways? I had forgotten he was even here. "Not much in your arms, so try using your knees and elbows too." I nod. Elbows and knees? I can do that.

When Four dismisses us for dinner, Christina nudges Tris with her elbow.

"I'm surprised he didn't break you in half," she says. She wrinkles her nose. "He scares the hell out of me. It's that quiet voice he uses."

"Yeah. He's…" Tris look over her shoulder at him, "…definitely intimidating,"

I snort. "Intimidating? Try down right murderous. He's got that whole, scary-sexy vibe. Not my type." Christina laughs, and Tris raises her eyebrows.

"I think he's got his eyes on you, Tris," says Christina, poking Tris in the arm.

"He had more than his eyes on her," I tease, and Tris flushes to a deep shade of pink.

Al, who was in front of us and most likely eavesdropping, turns around and announces, "I want to get a tattoo."

From behind us, Jack asks, "A tattoo of what?"

"I don't know." Al laughs. "I just want to feel like I've actually left the old faction. Stop crying about it." When we don't respond, he adds, "I know you've heard me."

I pokes Al's thick arm. "I think you're right. We're half in, half out right now. If we want all the way in, we should look the part."

We give Tris a look.

"No. I will not cut my hair," she says, "or dye it a strange color. Or pierce my face."

"How about your bellybutton?" she says.

"Or your nipple?" Will says with a snort.

Tris groans.

The Pit is swarming with people. Christina announces that she, Tris and I will meet Jack, Al and Will at the tattoo parlor and drags us toward the clothing place. We stumble up the path, climbing higher above the Pit floor, scattering stones with our shoes.

"What is wrong with my clothes?" Tris says, "I'm not wearing gray anymore."

"They're ugly and gigantic." Christina sighs. "Will you just let me help you? If you don't like what I put you in, you never have to wear it again, I promise."

Ten minutes later Tris stands in front of a mirror in the clothing place wearing a knee-length black dress. I slip the tie from her hair and she shakes it out of its braid so it hangs wavy over her shoulders.

Then Christina holds up a black pencil.

"Eyeliner," She says.

"Woah there!" I say, stopping Christina. "Are you kidding? Black eyeliner on someone as pale as Tris?" I grab a brown eyeliner pencil and hand it to Christina, "Try this instead."

"You aren't going to be able to make me pretty, you know." Tris closes her eyes and holds still. Christina runs the tip of the pencil along the line of Tris's eyelashes, extending it just past the edge of her eyelid.

"Who cares about pretty? We're going for noticeable." says Christina. Since we're here, I thought I'd grab a dress too. Black, of course, with a low neckline and sleeves extending half way down my arms, just like the shirt I wore on the day of the Choosing Ceremony. The cut on the back is deep, and I know I want a tattoo there. The dress goes down to the middle of my thighs. Since there's makeup, I put some on just like I did a few days ago. I let my curled hair out and Christina plays with it while talking to Tris. We get a certain amount of points every month to spend on stuff, and the dress costs me some.

"Let's go watch Al get tattooed," Tris says.

We walk down the narrow path to the tattoo place, Christina asks me how I manage to look so striking by just walking.

"Shoulders down, chin up. Just walk and think _murder_." I reply. She tries it, and so does Tris. "You look good!" I say with a smile. We walk and giggle all the way there.

When we get there, Al is sitting in the chair already, and a small, narrow man with more ink than bare skin is drawing a spider on his arm. The buzz of needles and chatter fill the store.

Will and Christina flip through books together, they'd make a good couple. Jack flips through designs. Tris talks to a stunningly gorgeous Dauntless woman. I look around and I know what I want tattood to me, but I don't see it on any of the displays.

"Can I help you?" Someone asks me. I turn to find a striking young man with tattoos all over his arms, making them look like sleeves of a shirt. He smirks at me. "I'm Fry."

"Yeah, actually." I say. I grab a napkin from the glass counter displaying piercing jewelry, then take a pen from his pocket shirt. He looks surprised. I draw a symbol on the napkin. I don't know what this symbol means but I have seen it once before. When I was young I found a wooden box under my parents bed, with this symbol carved into it. It's three spirals connected together. "Can I get this?"

He nods his head and takes me to a chair next to Al. "Where do you want it?"

"Between my shoulder blades," I answer, pulling my hair to the front. Since I want it on my back, he makes me sit backwards on the chair, my legs straddled around it. This causes my dress to ride up a bit but I don't care. I look over at Al, who's still getting inked and he turns his head towards me. I lean my head on the chair and face him. Fry gets to work after putting a jelly-like substance on my back. The pierce of the needle startles me, but the pain is ephemeral. It's a paralyzing pain, my body goes stiff and refuses to move. He pulls the needle off my skin every few minutes and the pain fades immediately but I want to ask him to put it back on. It's an addictive feeling, leaving me with a rush. It's silly, but the pain pulses through my body and I feed off it like adrenaline. I can understand why the Dauntless are covered in tattoos.

"I never thanked you-" He starts, but I hush him immediately. "Tori, I-" He tries again, but I still hush him. Al's tattoo is done now, but he doesn't get up just yet. He reaches out to hold my hand and I'm about to give it to him when Jack walks up to me, disapproval on his face. Al leaves immediately.

"Oh. Uh, yeah. Jack? I'm getting a tattoo." I say, mustering up the most innocent smile I can. He crosses his arms., then sighs.

"What are you getting?" He asks, "Please don't tell me it's a spider too." I nod towards the napkin on Fry's table, next to ink and needles. He looks at it, and he knows what it is. "I remember this," He says, in a whisper. "This was on that box," So he's seen it too. He turns to Al's tattoo artist and says, "Can you put that on me too? Same spot," and I smile at him, blinking tears away.

* * *

"Since there are an odd number of you, one of you won't be fighting today," says Four, stepping away from the board in the training room. He gives Tris a look. The space next to her name is blank.

Will – Al

Myra – Tori

Christina – Molly

Peter – Edward

Drew – Jack

Tris

Will and Al stand across from each other in the arena. They put their hands up by their faces to protect themselves, as Four taught us, and shuffle in a circle around each other. Al is half a foot taller than Will, and twice as broad. This fight won't last long. Tris and Christina gossip about Peter, Drew and Molly. How they can talk like that while Al and Will are throwing punches at each other beats me. I can't stand the pettiness any longer, and I walk away taking a seat next to Jack.

"You should put your hair up," He says without taking his eyes off Will and Al. I do just that, but it's not a neat and tight Abnegation bun, its messy and quick. He glances at me and says,"Scratch that, maybe you should just cut your hair." He's teasing me, but I think he's right. My hair goes down to my butt and that's a huge disadvantage during a fight.

I watch as Will socks Al in the jaw. "I want to get pierced," I say, Jack raises his eyebrows. "But I want to wait until the physical evaluations are over. If I make it that far."

"You'll make it," He says quickly. Jack adds "You're strong. Use your legs." I put my head on his shoulder and wince every time Al or Will gets hit. Drew is shorter than both Peter and Molly, but he's built like a boulder, and his shoulders are always hunched. Jack can take him. But can I take Myra? She's not very tall, but she's quick, I've seen her on a punching bag. I need to make sure I don't let her hit me in the stomach or chest, otherwise I won't be able to block and she'll keep pounding away.

Back in the fight, Will and Al look at Four expectantly, hoping he'll call off the fight. Instead, Eric starts yelling at them, telling them it's not over until someone can't fight. Four and Eric bicker over conceding, and in the end Eric has the authority.

Al looks ferocious, he attacks Will who was taunting him only seconds earlier. He punches him hard in the jaw, and Will hits the ground. Jack and I hold our breaths as Al's eyes widen and he hits the ground, trying to wake Will up. After a moment, Will blinks, he's clearly dazed. I breathe again.

"Next up - Myra and Tori!" Shouts Eric. Al pulls Will's arm across his shoulders and carries him out of the arena. Will Myra do the same to me? Or will she leave me on the ground and revel in her victory? This fight is already over before it has started. Myra's already in the arena when I've only just risen off the bench. Stop this. I can't psych myself out, I can win this. I need to win this. I step into the arena and I notice Myra's probably only a little over 5 feet tall.

Myra charges towards me, her eyes trained on my chest. I move quickly to the side and let her run right past me. She turns, disoriented, and I take the opportunity to attack first. I'm facing her, but as I raise my bent left leg, my right pivots and I extend my left to hit her with more force that I anticipated right in her chest. She stumbles back and lands on the ground, wheezing for breath.

_That kick. _

_That made me feel so powerful. _

_I have the power to beat Myra. _

In seconds, she's back on her feet, if not a little breathless. She throws a weak punch as I raise my arms to protect my chest because I know she doesn't go for hits in the face. She hits my forearm without much impact. Making eye contact, she's pleading to me. She wants this over as fast as possible, I nod my head. She doesn't protect her face so I extend my right arm and punch her in the jaw like I saw Will do to Al, leaving my knuckles stinging. Then, I send my elbow to her nose and her hands fly up to her face, she's bleeding. I send my knee to her squishy stomach and she hunches over. I take a step back, to let her stand again.

"Come on, Tori." Eric says. His words send a chill down my spine, he says my name so casually like he knows me. I don't like it. I don't like him.

Myra stands, her body slightly swaying, her hands protecting her chest. One quick blow, that's all she needs. My hands are in front of my chest, ready to punch. Instead, I raise my left leg, pivot my right, and kick her right in the jaw. Myra slumps to the ground. I rush to her, my ear to her face. I feel soft and short breaths. She's alive. I carry her, one arm under her legs, the other on her back, and she's like a child in my arms. She can't weigh more than 90 lbs. This was like beating up a child. I feel sick.

* * *

_**A/N: So obviously, I'm not going to write a character with a happy past/personal life. The sob story comes soon to a fan fiction site near you. **_

_**Also, if you'd like to see what Tori and Jack's tattoo looks like, I've posted a picture of the symbol on my profile, go take a look! I just so happen to have the same tattoo in the same spot, but of course the meaning for me is entirely different to the meaning for Derek Hale in Teen Wolf or Tori and Jack in this story. **_


	8. Chapter 8: A Night In Buna

I walk across the room, my feet dragging, and everyone's eyes are on me. Four takes Myra and carries her out. I stand for a moment by the door, watching them go. Then someone slaps me on the back, hard. I turn and see Eric, smirking at me.

"Congratulations, that was a good fight." Eric says. I don't reply, just push his hand off and walk away. I hate him, he's congratulating me for knocking out someone with the build of a child.

I see Jack sitting on the bench, right where I left him. I take a seat on the ground in front of him, crossing my legs. I open my hair and he plays with it. He knows this calms me down. Eric circles my name on the board. Victory. Above my name, Al's is circled too. Next is Christina and Molly. I don't want to watch this. I close my eyes as Jack runs his hands through my hair, I think he's trying to braid it. I hear grunts and smacks but I don't want to open my eyes.

"That was a good fight," Jack says, "You did really well," I open my eyes, and Eric's looking at me. He quickly turns his attention back to the fight. I lean my head back to stare at Jack.

"I just knocked out a girl with the build of a child. Don't tell me what I did was good," I say, blinking away tears. I tie the end of the braid, it's messy and disheveled but he tried his best. I look at the fight and Christina's on the ground, backing away from Molly.

This is not going to end well. Christina asks to stop the fight and I'm surprised that Eric does. But then he calls for a break and leads us all out of the room, and as he passes I see a glint in his eyes. He has something planned. His hand is against Christina's back and he's talking to her, but I can't hear what they're saying. This path looks familiar. I freeze in my tracks so suddenly that Jack walks into me.

"What's wrong?" He asks.

"Jack," I whisper, "The Chasm." We hear the roar of splashing waves and someone yells. We run to catch up and Christina's dangling on the edge of the pathway above the deadly Chasm. Christina's face is distorted and crinkled, she is crying.

I step past Al and Tris and I'm about to shove Eric out of the way to pull her up when Jack pulls me back. "What are you doing, Jack?" I ask, seething.

"Tori, think this through! If you attack Eric he's going to give you the same fate. You're no good to Christina if you're dangling above the Chasm too." I listen to his words and yank my arm away from him. Turning my head, Eric is now staring at me. I bite the insides of my cheeks to stop myself from screaming at him.

"Five minutes are up" Al spits at Eric.

"Fine," says Eric. "You can come up, Christina" Jack, Al, and I start towards her, but Eric says, "No. She has to do it on her own."

"No, she doesn't," Al growls. "She did what you said. She's not a coward. She did what you said." Eric doesn't respond.

Al reaches over the railing, and he's so tall that he can reach Christina's wrist. She grabs his forearm. Al pulls her up, his face red with frustration, and I grab her under her shoulders once Al and Jack lift her high enough. Together, Al, Jack, Tris and I haul her over the barrier. She drops to the ground, her face still blood-smeared from the fight, her back soaking wet, her body quivering. I kneel next to her. Her eyes lift to mine, then shift to Al, Jack and Tris and we all catch our breath together.

Continuing to watch the rest of the fights are a hard thing to do. I stay for Jack's sake and am sure to steer away from Eric.

At the end of the day, an electronic scoreboard is updated and in first place is Peter, of course. I scan the names from the bottom up. Jack is sixth place, I'm seventh. Jack smiles and pulls me into a hug, but then we see familiar names in red and we conceal our satisfaction.

That night, I have a vivid dream. I don't have many of those. It's so lucid I could've sworn it was real. I dream Christina hangs above the Chasm and I run towards her but Eric is in my way. I run towards him but instead of blocking my attack, he pulls me in for a kiss. I can't pull myself away, he's too strong and I stop fighting. I let him kiss me, I let his lips trail from mine down to my neck. I let his hands violate my body, he rips the black dress I wear. His arm reaches to the back of my neck and I see my parents behind him. I can't call out to them.

"You must deceive to keep the peace, Victoria," My dad says. Christina falls into the Chasm, her scream trickling my spine. Eric's hands travel from the back of my neck down, but when his hands come in contact with the fabric of my dress, he rips it to reveal my tattoo. Then I wake up.

I am gasping for breath, my body is sweaty and I feel gross. I will never tell anyone of that dream. I need to shower. No one else is awake so I go take a shower and it feels good, the water and soap lathering away the sweat. When I dry myself off and get dressed, I don't know what to do with my wet hair. Standing in front of a mirror, I hold back my hair to see what I would look like with short hair. I would look good with hair at shoulder-width, but I decide to go even shorter than that. Grabbing the first pair of scissors I see in the bathroom, I begin to snip away my towel dried hair into a garbage can.

_Snip. _

_Snip, snip._

_Snip._

With every snip of the scissors I think of the hardships I've lived through.

_Snip._

My father.

_Snip._

My mother.

_Snip, snip_.

School.

Sure, most people must've had it a lot worse, but there have been some things that have specifically driven me away from Amity.

I give my self something the Erudite call a pixie cut, It's about the same length as Jack's.

Now people will most likely give us more double-takes. Still, nobody's awake. It's 6:30 in the morning so I decide to visit Myra. When I find her, she looks terrible. She wakes up when I sit by her bed, and the apology flies out of my mouth but she stops me like I stopped Al when he wanted to thank me. "You did what you had to do. I don't blame you" She says softly. "You should blame me." I say quietly. "Tori, you're Dauntless. You are made to be here, you're not going to get through the first stage without knocking a few people out. Besides, I attacked first, remember?" I feel better, but I still can't believe that she's reassuring me when I'm the one who put her in a hospital bed. I felt powerful when I hit her, that's what scares me most.

When I leave her to rest, it's 7:15 so I make my way to the dining hall for breakfast. Not many people are in there yet, but they'll be coming soon so I grab something called a croissant and a cup of coffee. I love and hate coffee. I love the taste, bitter or sweet. I love the rush, the caffeine, the adrenaline. I hate that I need it daily to wake up properly now. Just as I take the first sip, Jack and the others walk into the hall and I wave them over. Jack ruffles my hair and sits to my right. He does a double-take, then a triple-take, and a quadruple-take. He pulls my hair just to be sure. "Ow" I say, punching him in the arm, "That still hurts, you moron." He doesn't want to admit it, but I can tell he likes it on me. Christina and Tris sit to my left. They compliment me and I smile at them. Will and Al sit across us. Al stares between me and Jack, then he frowns and stares at his food. Jack hesitates in front of the food, mostly everything is beef or pork. Bacon, sausages, eggs. I give Jack my croissant without hesitation.

When we get to the arena, everyone stares at the board.

Edward – Molly

Peter – Tris

Will – Christina

Jack – Al

Drew – Tori

Myra –

Glancing at Four and Eric, I know exactly who was up to this. Four is silently seething, but Eric is excited. He likes to watch people get knocked out, I think he get's off on it. I wish I had the chance to knock him out, see if he still like it then. He catches my eye and raises his eyebrows. I storm off and sit on the bench. Not only do I have to watch Tris get knocked out by Peter, but I'm going to be the last to fight today.

Speaking of Tris, as Edward and Molly fight, Christina and Al are talking to her but by looks of it she doesn't like what they're saying. They must be telling her to pretend to pass out or something. She must hate that they don't believe she can take him. Sighing, I walk up to her and place my hands on her shoulders. She winces at the contact because my hands are freezing, as they always are.

"Sorry," I mutter, but I don't remove my hands. I speak into her ear, saying "You can take him. I've seen Peter fight, he's overconfident. Watch him, he steps before punching. Four told me to use my elbows and knees, I think you should too. Attack him first, and go for the throat. He underestimates you, they all do. You'll be able to take hits to the chest and stomach, but don't let him hit your face." Tris turns to face me and she gives me a hug.

"Thank you." She says.

"You can take him, I know you can."

"Good luck. With Drew, I mean." she says.

"I might die from anxiety before the match actually starts, but at least that way Drew won't be able to kill me." I say, earning a chuckle from her. We turn to see Molly peeling herself off the ground, courtesy of Edward. I walk back to the bench beside Jack as Four stops Tris before she enters the ring. He says something to her, words of advice. He must really like her.

Then Tris is in the ring for all of half a second before Peter starts taunting her. Peter attacks her before she's prepared and she loses the chance to get in the first attack.

"Come on, Tris!" I shout out. I feel Eric staring at me but I don't take my eyes off of Tris. Well, she puts up a good fight and refuses to stay down, and she even manages to elbow him in the face a few times, but once she's on the ground she looks up and sees Four leaving, and I think that does it for her. Peter shows no mercy, and Tris is dragged away.

Next is Will and Christina, both of who have no intention of hurting the other. These two care about each other, a lot. Christina could easily take out Will, he presents her with many opportunities to do so. I think she lets him win on purpose. Although, when Christina can no longer fight, Will looks like a hurt puppy.

Next is Jack against Al. Yesterday, Jack won his fight against Drew and I noticed a few weaknesses that Drew had. Jack and Al are about the same height, and Al has a bigger build but I think Jack is stronger. Al's slow too. I look at my shoes. It's hard watching my brother throw punches and it's even harder to watch him get punched at. I wish I could intervene, and stop the fight. If I pretend to faint would they both stop? That's the Amity in me speaking. Even if I did faint, they wouldn't be allowed to stop the fight. I look back up and see Al on the ground, Jack wiping blood from his nose.

* * *

_**A/N: All I know is that this story has had a lot of views, but I can't tell if you guys actually like it or not. Thanks to those who have followed and favourited, please leave a review- unlike some of my characters, I take all criticism; good or bad. **_

_**On another note, I know exactly where I want to go with this story, but it might take a few chapters to get there. I don't want to skip major events just because I want to introduce a gut-wrenching teenage love plot. **_

_**-Throws glitter in the air- Self-insertion everywhere! **_


	9. Chapter 9: Fight Club

I look back up and see Al on the ground, Jack wiping blood from his nose.

I'm next. I'm taller than Drew. I might even be stronger. I can take him. I get into the ring and we circle each other, every step drawn out longer than the last.

Everyone is watching us.

I can see through his eyes that he's calculating where to attack me. Drew's distracted, his hands are at his face. I go in for a kick, pivoting to give me as much force as I can muster, and I hit him square in the chest, sending him stumbling back a few steps. His eyes look at my stomach and he charges at me. I block the punch with my forearm but it still hurts and I wince. I elbow him in the nose and he staggers. I aim a punch to his stomach but he catches on and blocks me, then knees me in the stomach.

I feel winded, like the air from my lungs has disappeared but I have no time. I knee Drew in the groin while he's calculating his next move, and he groans and hunches over. I kick him in the face, sending him backwards and he lies on the ground.

I don't want to hit Drew while he's on the ground.

I don't want to do it.

I won't.

Eric says something but I ignore him. This is my fight, I will not listen to him.

Drew gets up, but I see Myra swaying there instead. I hear her saying "_stop_."

Then something hits me in the stomach. Drew. He punched me.

I don't sway, I don't groan or anything. Drew looks at me expectantly, as if he thought I would've been knocked out with that one weak punch. I send my fist to his jaw and he's down.

That one punch leaves me feeling buzzed, and I wish Drew would get up so I can hit him again. He's done, he's just lying on the ground. I take it the fight is over. I can see he's blinking, so I don't help him up. Instead I walk passed him and sit next to Jack as Four circles my name on the board. Victory.

I look at my hands and my knuckles are bloody and bruised, but I don't think it's my blood. My hands are shaking, so I clench them into fists. Jack puts a hand on my shoulder.

"Before you leave, I've got an announcement." Four says. He raises his eyebrows in exasperation, adding "Field trip tomorrow. You'll learn a little more about the jobs available to you as a member of Dauntless. Be at the tracks by 8:15."

I remember Eric said the highest ranked get to choose their jobs, but I don't really know what the Dauntless actually do with their time when they don't guard the fence.

We get up to leave, but Eric stands next to Four with his arms cross and we all freeze. "There needs to be one last fight before you leave here today."

What? Who's fighting?

"We have, for the first time in Dauntless initiation history – a tie." Edward and Peter, most plausibly. "Can I please get in the ring..." He smiles at me, drawing out his words, "Jack and Tori."

He pulls up the scoreboard and in sixth place is Jack, seventh place is me. Next to both our names is the number six.

"What?" Jack asks in disbelief, chuckling. His eyebrows are raised. Now that I think about it, I fought Myra and Drew. I beat them both, but they weren't very strong. Jack fought against Drew and Al, and he was definitely stronger than both of them. Our fights were similar.

"You heard me." Eric says, smirking.

"I'm not fighting her," Jack says, crossing his arms. He's not chuckling anymore.

"Jack..." I start. He turns to me, and by looking into my eyes he knows that refusing to fight could get him kicked out of Dauntless. Jack will beat me, I will make sure of it. I'm not going to try to win this fight. We speak to each other with our eyes, discussing our plan with the quirk of an eyebrow.

"In the ring,_ initiates_." Eric says, his cold eyes on us. Everyone is silent, sitting frozen in shock.

I start towards the ring and he follows me. We circle each other, not sure how to start. I raise my hands to my chest and he raises his to his face.

"Any day now," Eric teases. I look at Jack, beckoning him to attack first. He shakes his head. He wants me to kick him. Fine.

"_Faction before blood_, right?" I say as I extend with my left leg and hit him in the chest, I don't pivot so it doesn't harm him but he stumbles back anyways. Jack lunges forward sluggishly and I block him with ease. Hit hits again and I block. Again and again and again he alternates hitting me with both arms and I block every hit, my forearms stinging. He glances at my jaw and I don't block him as he punches. It wasn't a hard hit.

I laugh and wipe drool off my face. "Come on, Jack! You can hit harder than that," I spit out.

He throws another punch, but I block him. I can feel the force impacting my forearm even after he hits me.

"Jack, you fight like your sister," Eric says, his tone demeaning. The initiates laugh at me, and so does Jack. _Rude._

I let out a wrathful grunt as I raise my bent left leg, pivot with my right foot and extend. I kick Jack harder than I have hit anyone else and he falls backward and hits the ground hard from the impact. It takes him a few seconds to catch his breath, then he stands on his feet.

"You don't fight like me, Jack. I fight better." He stares at me in disbelief for a moment, then he catches my eye and understands. He comes at me for a punch and I keep my feet planted firmly, twisting my torso so that he punches right past me. I hit him quickly in the jaw and he groans. I take a few steps back, giving him some time to recover.

I see Eric and everyone else are no longer laughing, instead they all sit on the edge of their seats in anticipation. Turning back to Jack, he socks me in the jaw really hard and I spin and hit the ground face first. I look up and everything's cloudy.

I don't mind losing to Jack, we're equals.

But I have something to prove, and he doesn't. I need to win this fight.

Pulling myself up, I wipe drool- or blood, I'm not sure, and look at Jack and he understands where I'm coming from. I glance at his chest and he knows I'm going in for a kick so he tries to block me. What he doesn't know is that I have no intention of hitting him in the chest. I kick him in the groan, hard. As he hunches over, I kick his jaw back, sending him flying. He hits the ground and he doesn't get back up. I stand there for a moment, breathing heavily, expecting him to get back up and attack. When he doesn't, Eric applauds me and I feel sick. I drop to the ground next to Jack, holding my breath.

He lifts his hand and pokes my cheek, and I can't help but laugh. I pull his arm around my shoulder and hoist him up, walking away as I support him with my arm around his waist.

Four types away on a sheet of glass and the scoreboard changes. My name is sixth and Jack is seventh.

Our unspoken plan worked. We had to fight to prove to Eric that we believe in the mantra "_faction before blood_," and Eric was satisfied. Jack and I know each other, we know what we can and can not take. But in truth, blood comes before everything.

* * *

_**The Next Morning**_

We stand in front of the fence, beholding its vastness. It seems to stretch on forever. Does it end eventually or does it go in a big circle around the city?

"If you don't rank in the top five at the end of initiation, you will probably end up here," says Four as he reaches the gate. "Once you are a fence guard, there is some potential for advancement, but not much. You may be able to go on patrols beyond Amity's farms, but—"

"Patrols for what purpose?" asks Will.

Four lifts his shoulders in a shrug. "I suppose you'll discover that if you find yourself among them. As I was saying. For the most part, those who guard the fence when they are young continue to guard the fence. If it comforts you, some of them insist that it isn't as bad as it seems."

"Yeah. At least we won't be driving buses or cleaning up other people's messes like the factionless," Christina whispers in my ear, I shove her away "_playfully."_

Four says we can guard the fence or work for the security of our city. We can work in the Dauntless compound, drawing tattoos or making weapons or even fighting each other for entertainment. Or we can work for the Dauntless leaders. What will I do after initiation? Let's just try to get through initiation first.

We stop next to the gate. A few Dauntless guards glance in our direction but not many. They are too busy pulling the doors—which are twice as tall as they are and several times wider—open to admit a truck.

The familiar man with tanned skin driving wears a hat, a beard, and a smile. He is Scott's father. He stops just inside the gate and gets out. The back of the truck is open, and a few other Amity sit among the stacks of crates, including Harry. I clamp my hand over my mouth and Jack puts his hands on my shoulders.

An Amity transfer recognizes Tris. They talk and Harry hops off the truck as Dauntless check the truck's cargo. Scott's dad smiles at us and we wave back.

"Oh my god" He says, pulling me in a tight hug. He let's go and does the same to Jack. When he pulls away I caress his face with my hands. He looks just like Scott, just a little shorter and his face is still round and immature. Harry launches into chatter, speaking so fast I can just barely understand him. He talks about everything and anything, but mostly about school and we let him. I want to hear him talk, hear his roaring Amity voice. If I spoke, I wouldn't know what to say to him. He doesn't talk about our parents, and we don't ask him. Behind him, the Dauntless guards are finished inspecting the cargo in the truck.

"You guys look good," He says loudly, backing away with a smile, "You look Dauntless."

Harry gets back into the truck and as they pull away, he starts strumming a guitar badly and singing off-key. We laugh, but no one else understands why. After a few minutes, we catch a train back.

* * *

_**A/N: I'm getting back on track with this story for the next few chapters, thanks to all of you that reviewed- you're my favourite kind of people! **_

_**I know, I know. What the hell is Harry doing here? **_

_**Do you trust me? I promise it's important for the later chapters. **_


	10. Chapter 10: Russian Roulet

I wake up to the sound of Eric barking orders. He tells us to get dressed in five minutes and meet him at the tracks. Again? Where are we going now? They've already shown us the fence, what's left, the factionless?

I groggily pull myself out of slumber, swallowing an Advil pill dry as we run towards the tracks, a pile of strange-looking guns and ammunition waiting for us. Paintball guns, but they look like toys.

Oh man, I've heard of these, though I've never actually fired one. How different can it be from the guns we've trained with? We file into the oncoming train with the Dauntless born initiates. I lug myself in without an ounce of grace and topple into someone, knocking them down under my own body. I stare into crisp grey storm clouds with bold strikes of lightning. This gaze is electrifying, paralyzing my movement. Seriously, I can't move. One of my hands holds me up, right beside her head but my arm is shaking and I feel like I'm about to collapse on her. Jack pulls me off her and I stagger a bit before regaining my balance. He offers her his hand but after blinking for a few seconds she's off the ground, shaking imaginary dust off of her baggy clothes. She's lost in the crowd of initiates before I have the chance to apologize.

Eric shows us how to load the guns, but they aren't loaded with paintballs. Instead, a neuron stimulating dart that portrays the effect of a real bullet, the pain lasts for a few minutes. We're supposed to play capture the flag in mixed teams of transfers and Dauntless born. Four and Eric are team captains, both choosing from the group of transfers first.

Eric looks at me and I stare at my feet.

Please don't choose me, please don't choose me.

He chooses Peter.

Next, Four chooses Tris. Eric laughs, then chooses Edward.

_Come on, Four. _

He looks at me and he must see the desperation in my eyes, because he calls my name.

On Eric's team, Peter, Edward, Drew, Molly, Al and Myra by default.

On Four's team, Tris, Jack, Christina, Will and myself.

They choose through Dauntless born initiates and I catch onto their strategy. Eric choses large and brute people (with the exception of Myra). Our team may not be brutally strong, but we look fast. The girl I toppled over is on our team.

Our team get's off first and a girl, Marlene, flirts with Four to find out where his team hid the flag when they played two years ago.

"Well, there's no point to that if Eric was on his team." I say to her, then turning to Four I ask "Was he?" He doesn't answer me. Figures.

"Navy Pier," another Dauntless-born initiate calls out. He is tall, with dark brown skin unlike Amity's and dark eyes. Handsome. "My brother was on the winning team. They kept the flag at the carousel."

"Let's go there, then," suggests Will. On our way to Navy Pier, Marlene turns her flashlight on, and the handsome guy, Uriah, teases her. To my surprise, she turns it off. I guess part of being Dauntless is being willing to make things more difficult for yourself in order to be self-sufficient. We stop in front of something the others call a Ferris Wheel, and Jack and I can't take our eyes off of it.

"I want to climb it," I say aloud. I sound like a child who wants to climb a tree for the first time, not a young adult who stands before something several stories tall. Uriah hears me and laughs. By the Ferris Wheel is a carousel with plastic horses. This makes no sense to me, why not just ride actual horses? I touch a black horse hesitantly, then throw myself on top of it. Jack follows my lead.

"This is anatomically incorrect," says Jack, frowning.

"You sound like Erudite," Marlene says, smiling.

"Sounding like Erudite wouldn't be a bad idea right now." Four says to all of us, "In ten minutes, the other team will pick their location," he says. "I suggest you take this time to formulate a strategy. We may not be Erudite, but mental preparedness is one aspect of your Dauntless training. Arguably, it is the most important aspect." Everyone breaks into chatter over strategy, and it's chaotic. I find myself tuning to someone's voice, it's raspy and sweet, loud but soft, demanding yet polite. The voice belongs to her and I just now notice she has shaved her head. I listen to her voice, but I don't really take in what she says.

Out of the corner of my eye I see movement. Tris walks away to the Ferris Wheel and I want to follow her. Tris is someone I would follow. I want to climb too but I see Four go after her and I know best to leave those two alone.

Christina notices them climbing and says, "What the hell are those two doing?"

"Tris is smart," Jack says, "She's trying to get a better vantage point. They can probably see where Eric's team is and where they're keeping their flag. Let's not decide a strategy until we get some more information." Surprisingly, people nod in agreement.

With some persuasion from Uriah, the Dauntless-born begin to mingle with us. I find myself hopping off my plastic horse and walking towards the shaved girl.

"Hey," I say, my voice strong despite the unnerving pain in my stomach. I look anywhere but her eyes, fearing that I may be frozen forever under her gaze.

Her cold, hard scowl fades and her eyes crinkle when she smiles, her faint lips curving. "You're the one who pinned me down!" She says. Forget butterflies, there is a swarm of bees in my stomach and they all seem to be trying to sting their way out.

I let out a laugh and say, "Yeah!" With a bit too much enthusiasm. "Sorry bout that," I add. God, she's beautiful. Her shaved head, her baggy clothes all say that she's trying not to be. A face like that can't be hidden. Her skin is fair, her (shaved) hair is blonde. Piercing grey eyes that I find hard to look at are topped with long eyelashes and eyebrows that naturally shape her face. She has a ring that pierces her eyebrow, glinting when it hits the light of someone's flashlight. Is she taking me in the way I did to her? Am I being too obvious?

"No worries," she says to me. I feel my body relax, the bees have been sedated. "Not many people can do that though. Pin me down, I mean."

I hum, stroking my chin. "Then you must be doing pretty well in the initiations, right?" I'm trying to be cool and calm, and when she's not looking I wipe my clammy hands on my pants.

"Yeah, you could say that. I'm third place right now. Lynn, by the way."

"Tori." I say, "Sixth place." She nods in approval.

Our attention turns to the Ferris Wheel when we hear loud creaking noises tear through the silence of the day. What are those two doing? When they finally get down, one of the Dauntless born girls is pissed off because they gave away our location. They had a good reason for doing it, I'm sure. I bite the inside of my cheeks.

Turns out Jack was right, Tris found out both where Eric's team is and where they're keeping their flag. All heads turn to her for a strategy and she decides to leave four people behind to guard our flag because of the noise the Ferris Wheel made, then four people will go to the right of the pier as four others go to the left of the pier. The four on the right will create a diversion and charge at Eric's team while the four on the left sneak to the flag. Four Dauntless born stay behind, including the girl that got pissed off earlier. Marlene, Lynn, Jack and I decide to charge at Eric's team as Four, Tris, Christina and will go to the left for the flag.

We need to run far and fast to close the distance between their team and ours, but I don't run as fast as I know I can because this is a group effort and we need to stick together as a team. As we duck behind trees, we see all the transfers on Eric's team with the exception of Molly, she must be guarding the flag. Other than her, almost all the team members are there, just a few Dauntless born are missing, most likely scouting for our location. Then I see Eric and my blood boils.

I look at Jack, Lynn and Marlene and they nod to me. To our left, I see the outline of Tris and three others. It's now or never. I aim at Peter, since he's the farthest from us and the closest to their flag. Once I pull the trigger, I see Peter hit the ground, clenching his neck. The four of us break into a sprint and I hit three Dauntless born before I get hit just before taking cover. The dart is stuck to my neck and the pain, though bearable, stings. It feels like an electric pulse sending my nerves into a frenzy. My blood has been replaced with battery acid. I crouch behind a barrier, more neuron darts whizzing over my head.

Once the effects wear off, the pulsing rush fades and I look up and see Eric aiming at Four, and I hit him three times. In the arm, his leg and his chest. This gives them the opportunity to sneak by. Jack fires from beside me and hits a Dauntless born, who clutches his leg and curses out loud. Lynn fires at Edward like eight times and every shot hits him until he finally hits the ground. I make a mental note to not piss her off. Myra stands there, exposed now that Edward is down.

I fire at Drew, who hits the ground just as Christina and Tris wave the neon flag in the building ahead.

We let out cheers and Peter curses to himself. Lynn stands, bending her knees in front of me and waits expectantly. I wrap my arms around her neck and she holds onto my legs, giving me a piggy back ride. Her touch sends a radiating pulse through my body where it pounds in my chest. I giggle like an Amity girl and I don't think I've ever felt so alive. Christina wears the flag like a cape and walks with her shoulders brushing Will. Uriah and Marlene are great people, they acknowledge us as more than just transfers or possible threats and they invite us to go zipline back to headquarters, but only Tris goes. Lynn decides to stay with us.

They're really not as bad as I thought, I had assumed they would all be like Four or Eric. Though, now that I think about it, Four and Eric are two different sides of Dauntless. The honourable side that values courage and the ruthless side that tolerates no mercy. I don't think Eric should be a leader. His values and priorities are all messed up.

Four and Eric walk next to each other but they don't say a word. Four is satisfied with our victory, I can tell because he's not scowling as much as he typically does. Eric, on the other hand, is placid. His face is completely blank and something tells me it has taken him a long time to master disguising his emotions.

I don't care, I'm happy and I want people to know I am. I smile and laugh along with Jack and Lynn all the way back home.

Back to headquarters, I mean.

Unsure of what to do, I wave goodbye to Lynn and drag Jack to the Pit. We sit on one of the grooves carved into the stone walls and people watch as we laugh and talk. Eric sits with a few friends on a groove close to us.

Jack notices and says, "I still don't understand what piercings have to do with being brave." He's referring to the giant piercing in Eric's forehead, Jack has to raise his voice because of all the chatter around us.

Equally as loud, I say "I don't think it has anything to do with it." He raises his eyebrows at me. "The Dauntless are people of few fears. I think they try to scare the other factions in every way possible to make themselves look fearless. I mean, think about it. A faction like Abnegation must be terrified when they see a dude with fifteen piercings."

"Speaking of piercings," He starts, "What do you want?"

"I'm thinking my eyebrow," I say, wiggling my eyebrows to make him laugh a loud Amity laugh.

"Let's go now! I want something too," He says, and I raise my eyebrows and smile at him.

"This is a first! Jack Argent, getting a piercing? I think one on the lips would look good on you," I say, flicking his face. He bats my fingers away. "But not just yet. I think we should wait a few days, until the physical stage of initiation is over..." I hesitate.

"...And?" Jack presses.

"And until after visiting day."

The topic was bound to come up eventually. We may not be talking in private but at least our friends aren't around. Eric's a little too close for comfort but Jack and I need to have this conversation and now seems like the only chance we'll get to have it. I think Eric is eavesdropping. I don't care, let him listen.

Jack lets out a chuckle and says, "Visiting day." He looks at his hands. "Do you think they'll come?"

"I know they will." I answer with out an ounce of doubt.

"Do you want them to come?" He asks me.

I glance at Eric, who's friends are now gone. He's definitely listening. Jack doesn't care. "No."

He says to me, "Do you think they'll be angry? What if –"

"Stop it Jack." I say, cutting him off. He stares at me, confused. "Stop psyching yourself out." I take his warm hands in my freezing cold ones and say, "They will come. Mom will smile, dad will cry." After a moment I loudly add, "And we will move on." Jack knows that last line was meant for Eric, not him.

* * *

_**A/N: Please leave a review, it would really help me especially after this chapter. I want to know if you like the approach I'm taking. **_


	11. Chapter 11: Evil by Needle

"Stop it Jack." I say, cutting him off. He stares at me, confused. "Stop psyching yourself out." I take his warm hands in my freezing cold ones and say, "They will come. Mom will smile, dad will cry." After a moment I loudly add, "And we will move on." Jack knows that last line was meant for Eric, not him.

He smiles, shakes his head and says, "God, Tori. Why are your hands always so cold?"

"It's because of my cold heart," I say with an innocent smile. Jack doesn't know, he doesn't understand.

"What heart?" Jack asks, snorting. We rise and begin to walk, but I stop infront of a store, the orange lights bouncing off Jack's face. He's growing subtle facial hair.

"Jack," I say, changing the subject, "Seeing Harry yesterday..."

"Oh no." He says, "You've been thinking."

"Remember what they told us on the first day?" I look away and into the shop.

Jack sighs and says, "Tori, they told us a lot of stuff on the first day." I see bookshelves stacked with all sorts of old books.

"About leaving. 'You are only permitted to leave the compound when accompanied by a Dauntless'" I say, mimicking Eric's husky voice to the best of my abilities. There are fancy journals and writing utensils too.

"What about it?" Jack asks slowly, as if he knows I'll drag him into something stupid that he doesn't want to do. Do the Dauntless really read or is it just for show for when people of other factions visit?

"I want to go to the Erudite headquarters." I say, conviction strong in my voice. There are chairs all around the store, but it's absolutely deserted.

"What?" Jacks asks, laughing. "Why not somewhere _fun?_" Books must definitely be for show here. I bet if I opened one up it would be hollowed out with a gun inside or something.

"Scott." I say shortly. "I've got something I want to ask him, and I think you'll want to hear what he knows, that is, if he knows anything at all." I take off my sweater and remind Jack of our tattoos.

"You think he'll know what it means? Why not just ask mom and dad?" He asks.

"Well, he's our best shot." I say, the conviction in my voice fading. "I doubt our parents would tell us, and they'd probably just be upset if they see it inked to our skin. Cover up when they come, but ask mom about it."

"Okay," he agrees, "But who'd escort us? It's not like the Dauntless are lining up to take us places."

"Leave that to me," I say. Our conversation ends there. My brother looks like he thinks I know someone willing to take us, when infact, I do not. There are only a few Dauntless that I know. Four, Eric, and Fry. I don't know any of them well enough. "Fuck it," I say, adding "let's go get piercings now." Jack raises his eyebrows in mock surprise.

Fry was my piercer, he pinched my right eyebrow and with a clamp he pierced a bar through my skin, then screwed the silver balls on. I felt blood trickle down my face before Fry could wipe it up.

He blushes before saying "Uh, you're blood is really thin. Are you, you know..." I raise my I unpierced eyebrow, urging him to continue. "Have you been taking any medication? For, like, your thing."

"What?" I ask, confused.

"Menstral cycle, period, waterfall of blood..." He says, his face a bright pink colour.

"Oh." I say, suppressing boisterous laughter. "Uh, I took some Advil this morning."

"Right." Fry says shortly. Poor guy.

He pierces through the skin under my bottom lip with another bar, just one silver ball showing from the labret. This time, he's ready to clean the blood before it starts to spill.

Jack gets a ring in his lip and his ears pierced with white spikes. His blood doesn't run down his face.

While Fry's piercing him, I think of the Dauntless I know. Eric makes me uncomfortable and to be honest, I'm intimidated by Four. Fry was kind but we hardly spoke, all he did was give me a tattoo and some piercings. I could ask Lauren, she seems approachable, I guess, but I think it'll be weird to ask her since she's not our instructor. I yawn and Jack rises, pulling me with him out of the parlour. I do not sleep well tonight.

* * *

In the training room, there's a row of targets set up and a table of knives. Atleast nobody will get hurt today.

Eric's standing infront of us, his presence demanding our attention. "Today, you'll be learning how to aim. Everyone pick up three knives." His voice is harsher than usual. "And pay attention while Four demonstrates the correct technique for throwing them."

Why doesn't Eric demonstrate instead? He'd earn a little respect from all of us. Maybe he just likes taking advantage of ordering Four around. Knife throwing is important, I need to pay attention. My piercings throb to my heartbeat and my tattoo itches.

Again, I watch Four closely. His stance, his technique. Every single time he hits his target. This is a man I can respect. This is a man I can see being a Dauntless leader, not Eric.

"Line up!" Eric orders. I grab three knives and take my position. I go through the motions and mimic Four as closely as I can, I manage to hit my targets but they don't hit near the centre and don't really stick. Jack does really well, he's the first to hit his targets and they stick right away. Something feels off. I think back to how Four's feet were positioned, his right foot forward. I try again and it still feels wrong. Eric stops pacing from behind us and I can feel his presence just a few feet away. One more time. Right foot forward. I fling the knife, and it sticks, still far from the center but I feel awkward. "Here," Eric says, stepping closer to me. "Flip the position of your body, keep your left foot forward." His large hands adjust my legs, then he changes the position of my arms. Maybe it's just the lack of sleep, but I feel his hands gently linger on my skin. He takes a step back and I throw the knife with ease at the target, and it finally hits the center. "Better," he says.

Then Eric stalks off and yells at Al. Tris steps up for him. She's brave. She's selfless. Somehow, training ends with Four throwing knives at Tris. The Dauntless have a strange way of showing affection for each other.

Again, I have trouble sleeping. The clock on the wall says 6:15 and I give up trying. I take a freezing cold shower to wake myself up and when I get out I see someone staring back at me. Her hair is short and it frames her face, she has high cheekbones. Her skin is tan and olive toned. Her eyes are wild and alert, no dark circles despite the lack of sleep. I look away from the mirror and get dressed.

Today is the last day of the physical training. It's also most likely the last day I have to pull my rank up as high as I can. Sneaking out of the dorm, I head to the dining hall for some food. I grab the first thing I see, a chocolate muffin and some strong coffee, and I'm about to sit at my usual table at the back of the hall when I notice Fry sitting by himself, eating toast.

"You know, Amity drugs their bread. I wouldn't be surprised if Dauntless does too. I'm betting steroids in place of peace serum, though." I say, taking a seat across from him.

He looks up at me and says, "Well, if that's the case then I need me some Amity-bread," I chuckle. "You know, I never did get your name."

"Tori," I say, smiling.

"Tori? I work with a woman named Tori." He says, as if now we are obligated to get along.

"Well, if that's the case then I guess we'll get a long just fine." I say, teasing him.

"Okay, Tori. I take it you didn't make conversation with me just because I'm your charming tattoo artist." He says. I nod in confirmation.

"Us initiates aren't allowed to leave the compound with out an actual member of Dauntless," I begin. He nods his head knowingly. "Would you like to escort me and my brother to Erudite headquarters?"

Fry hums, then says "Not my idea of a first date. Can I ask why Erudite?"

"I just want to talk to a friend of mine, he used to be our neighbour. So will you take us?" I ask eagerly, smiling flirtatiously with him.

"Oh, how could I refuse such a pretty face, of course I will. Have a date in mind? We'll have to take it up with a Dauntless leader." He says, leaning forward towards me.

"Is the day after tomorrow alright?" I ask.

"Sounds good to me. Meet me at the shop after your training, today's supposed to be the last day of physical training, isn't it?" Fry asks, and I nod. "Good luck."

"How'd you do in your initiate class?" I ask.

He says "You know Four, right?" I nod. "He was first in my class. I barely scraped by and thought working in the compound is better than watching the factionless."

"Wise choice." I say, smiling.

"What about you? Any idea what you want to do after initiation?" He asks.

"Leadership sounds interesting, but if I'm honest I never want to see Eric again after initiaion let alone work with him. I was thinking of working in the compound too." I say.

"Can you draw?" He asks. "Oh, wait. Amity, right? Are you any good?"

"I'd like to think that I'm very good," I say. Fry raises his eyebrows, impressed. Someone calls Fry's name and beckons him over, and with a salut he bids me fairwell. I head back to my table and eat my muffin until Jack comes in ten minutes later. The last day of training. The last day that I have to fight someone with out a good reason.

Tori – Will

Al – Jack

Christina – Myra

Drew – Edward

Tris – Molly

Peter –

I am not amused. Will is my friend, but in the ring he will hurt me if he needs to. And from the last few fights, he needs to. He's already in the ring, waiting for me. I see a glint in his eye and I know what he's thinking. He thinks I'll attack him first with a kick, and that the rest of the match is his. He knows I'm good, but he doesn't think I'm good enough to beat him. I have to try. I bring my arms up in a defensive position and we circle each other slowly. He keeps his arms in front of his chest, like he's anticipating my attack. Instead, I elbow him in the throat. I definitely took him by surprise, but I have just lost a huge advantage. Will no longer underestimates me. He hits me in the jaw and the impact is so hard that I jerk back from the force, my back facing him. Next thing I know, one of Will's arms are compressed around my chest and the other is around my waist. I can't squirm out of his iron grip and I begin to panic. I spot Jack in the crowd and that brings me back to my senses. I send my elbow into a soft nerve in his abdomen and his grip loosens as he hunches into me. I stop on his foot as hard as I can and he cries out. I turn and send my elbow flying to his nose, not wasting any opportunities. I finish with what most people consider my signature move. I knee Will in the groin and when he hunches over I kick his jaw back with brute force and I've done it.

I breathe heavily, my lungs burning and Will let's out a painful groan from the floor but he doesn't get up. Four drags him away and Eric circles my name, looking impressed. Victory. I have now won four fights in a row. I am so breathless that I heave myself onto the bench next to Christina.

* * *

_**A/N: I get what it's like to read an enticing fan fic, only to have every chapter end with an authour's note badgering you to review so I'll drop it. To those of you that have reviewed, followed and/favourited, thank you! **_

_**On another note, I guess I didn't make it very clear in chapter 10, but Tori's feelings for Lynn are strong. Like, stronger than sister-sister strong if you know what I mean. **_

_**One last thing, from here on the updates will have longer periods of time in between them. Sorry!**_

_**[Here is where I pour out my life story] I go on work placement in a couple weeks which should give me way more time to write. If you don't know, or if you do care, I'm taking a co-op class (in highschool btw). It's where we get two 3 week periods off of school to try a work experience. For the first one I was at a live theater, working in production and watching rehearsals (for the play Helen Lawrence in Vancouver). Way better than learning about the Great Depression. For the next one I'll be going to the movie theaters, which'll mean my schedule will be way more flexible. **_


	12. Chapter 12: Born Under A Bad Sign

I breathe heavily, my lungs burning and Will let's out a painful groan from the floor but he doesn't get up. Four drags him away and Eric circles my name, looking impressed. Victory. I have now won four fights in a row. I am so breathless that I heave myself onto the bench next to Christina.

Now Jack has to fight Al. I was right about Al being too kind, he raises his hands to defend his face but it's so obvious he won't put up a fight. I don't think Al has to win his fights, he just needs to show that he _can_ fight. It's a short fight.

I'm beginning to feel a tickle in my jaw where Will hit me.

Jack finishes the fight with a clean uppercut to Al's jaw. Al, much like Will, has to be dragged away by Four. I pat the spot next to me on the bench and Jack takes a seat next to me. He rests his head on my shoulders, breathing heavily.

The fight between Christina and Peter lasts less than a minute. After a few hits, Christina hits the ground and Peter doesn't give her the chance to get back up. Eric shakes his head. What's this? Is there an actual ounce of decency in him?

Drew and Edward fight next and Drew keeps trying to charge at him with punches but Edward's fast and dodges all of them. My jaw is burning with rage so I get up to grab a pack of ice from the other side of the arena. I open the freezer, which comes up to my thighs and I have to crouch to see inside. When I stand and turn around, Eric is right behind me and I drop my ice pack. I blink at him a couple times, then bend down and pick it up off the floor and press it to my jaw. The irritation subsides almost instantaneously.

"What?" I ask him. Shouldn't he be watching Drew and Edward?

"Congratulations. You fought well." He says to me with a smile. I fight my Amity instincts and I don't smile back or say thank you. I keep my face blank and nod, then I walk past him and sit back next to Jack who lays his head on my shoulder again. Drew's on the ground, his face spewing with blood. The final fight is between Tris and Molly. When she enters the ring, Tris looks different. Something in her eyes and the way she holds herself tells me she's out for revenge. The fight finishes with Four who has to intervene and stop Tris from kicking Molly while she's on the ground.

I don't ask Tris any questions, but she looks satisfied.

Training is over and it's 6:00, and even though I'm really hungry I go to the Pit and find Fry in the tattoo shop. He waves goodbye to the woman named Tori.

"Damn. I didn't know I liked my girls hot and sweaty and straight from a farm," Fry teases.

"For your information, I have only been on a farm once, when I was a kid, and I hated it." I say, poking him in the arm. He grins at me, and I can't stop myself from grinning back. He leads the way and tells me about how brutal Eric was during initiation and I listen, the way he speaks captivating me. I'm unsure of where we're going but I don't want to interrupt his story, until we stop in front of a door and he knocks. We here a muffled "Come in." and Fry opens the door.

"Wait here," He says to me, and I nod. Lingering in the doorway, I see people who are most likely Dauntless leaders. And then I see Eric. And then I see Fry approach Eric. I have to bite the inside of my cheeks to stop myself from groaning. I wait in agony as Fry talks to Eric, and they glance over at me. The way Eric looks at me, with such curiosity, confirms my suspicions of him being a transfer. He's from Erudite, there's no getting rid of that curiosity to solve things and right now, he's trying to figure me out with his hungry eyes. Eric looks back at Fry and nods his head, and I let out a breath that I didn't realize I was holding in.

* * *

As I cut my hair my mind wanders. I cut the sides short and style the top. I have a quiff. It looks risqué and I feel mature.

Visiting day. Vis-it-ing day. Visit. What a strange word. How strange that _to __go to see and spend time with someone socially_ can be wrapped up in one word. Visit. Visiting day. The day my mother and father –

The day that my _mom_ and _dad _will come see and spend time with me socially. But there is a thought that has been niggling in the back of head for a very long time. There is every possibility that my mom and dad will not visit today. Or ever again. For Jack's sake, I hope they're here.

I sit on my made bed, holding in my hands the flower crown my father made for me. The flowers, to my surprise, haven't wilted. I am wearing tight black pants, and a loose T-shirt with a V-neck, exposing my collar bones. I wear my black and white sneakers and my face is painted with the makeup I wore on the day of the Choosing Ceremony. My tattoo, though it itches, is covered. My piercings throb in rhythm, sending a pulse through my head. I put the flower crown on as Eric walks in.

"Attention!" he announces, flicking a lock of dark hair from his eyes. "I want to give you some advice about today. If by some miracle your families do come to visit you…" He scans our faces and smirks, "…which I doubt, it is best not to seem too attached. That will make it easier for you, and easier for them. We also take the phrase '_faction before blood_' very seriously here." Eric gaze flickers between Jack and I. "Attachment to your family suggests you aren't entirely pleased with your faction, which would be shameful. Understand?"

We understand. We understand that threat loud and clear.

On my way out of the dormitory, Eric glares at my flower crown. Jack walks beside me down the dimly lit corridor, and before we walk through the doors of the Pit, he holds my hand. Jack, my baby brother of two minutes, is scared. I squeeze his hand and smile, showing off my teeth and dimples, and pull him through the doors. Jack has nothing to be scared of, our parents love him. They would never harm him or let him be harmed.

Clusters of families stand on the Pit floor, most of them Dauntless families with Dauntless initiates. Drew and Molly stand alone, fiddling with their thumbs. I guess their families didn't show. Peter stands with his mother and father, Christina with her mother and sister, Tris with her mother and Will with his sister. I see Lynn with her sister and brother.

I scan the endless black for spurts of colour when Jack squeezes my arm and points to the other side of the room. Dressed in Amity yellow and orange, are our mom and dad. They stand amoungst themselves, gazing up at the vastness of the Pit. We did the same thing on our first day here. Jack and I walk at the same pace, our foot steps synchronized. As we get just a few feet away my mother –

My_ mom_ gasps when she sees us and smacks dad on the shoulder to get his attention. Dad's eyes find mine. Dad pulls me into a constricting hug as mom pulls Jack into one too. One of his hands are on the back of my head, his fingers brazing my short hair, and the other hand is right over my covered tattoo. When they finally let go, dad hugs Jack and mom pulls me into a hug. I had forgotten how they smell of sage, the arouma overwhelming my senses. They jump into questions immediately,

"Do you have friends?"

"Are others treating _you_ kindly?"

"Are you treating _others_ kindly?"

"What on earth have you done to your faces?!"

"Have you been injured?"

"How's the food?"

"What have you done to your hair? ...No wait. It looks good, it suits you."

We try our best to elaborate the answers to their questions, but most of them could be answered with a simple 'This is Dauntless, that's how they do things here.'

"I see quite a few Candor and Erudite, they aren't bothering you are they?" My dad asks me quietly as mom tries to find out if Jack has a girlfriend.

"Actually, we're good friends with a lot of them, even a couple of Dauntless born. Obviously, there are a few who value brutality and no mercy, I've made sure to stay clear of them," Jack says, my eyes flicking to Peter, then Drew and Molly.

I see Tris walking in our direction with her mother and Jack waves her over. We make introductions and Tris's mother is not what I would've expected. She's funny and kind and very approachable. Christina's mother and sister are much like herself, in which they have no filter. Will's sister isn't as kind to Tris and her mother as she is to the rest of us. Al is nowhere to be seen. Lynn's brother and sister are like her in the way that they are both sarcastic, but other then that they aren't so similar. Hector and Shauna aren't as clever as Lynn.

All our families talk in a large group, and Uriah and Marlene join us with their... _colourful_ families. We talk amoungst ourselves and I laugh a loud Amity laugh at Uriah's brother when I make eye contact with Eric. Suddenly, the joke that Zeke made isn't so funny as Eric walks towards us. I turn back to the group and smile as they talk, hoping Eric goes away. I don't want him near our families. It feels like he'll suck the kindness right out of them and I want him far away. Then he stands in between Jack and I, one hand on my shoulder and the other on Jack's. The flaming conversation simmers out as Eric smiles at our families, showing his teeth. I don't think I've ever seen him smile like that, his teeth are bright white like mine.

"Well, isn't anyone going to introduce me?" He asks to no one in particular. I've had enough of being intimidated by this asshole.

"Of course," I say, smiling at him. Everyone looks surprised. "Everyone, this is Eric." I place my hand playfully on his arm to make him uncomfortable, and I can feel the strength in his muscles. "He's a Dauntless leader overseeing our training." Our families look impressed, they must be thinking he's rather young to be a leader of a faction. "Eric, this is our mother, Lily, and our father, Jason." Eric shakes our mom and dad's hands. I don't want him to touch them. I make sure I keep myself between him and Lynn at all times. Tris introduces her mom, Natalie, and Eric is surprised to see how not-stiff she is. Will introduces his sister and Lynn and Christina introduce their families. Uriah and Marlene introduce their parents too. As if things weren't awkward enough, Eric calls Four over to meet our families. Four doesn't say much, it's clear to see he's uncomfortable.

The families disperse eventually, parents wanting to spend time with their children. I guide out parents over to a large groove in the stone walls. Jack talks with mom as I listen to dad talk.

I interrupt his enticing speech about a new shipment of apples and say, "Dad, I have two very important questions to ask you and I want you to tell me the truth, okay?" He detects the urgency in my voice and nods.

"First, were you and mom born into Amity?"

"Yes," He answers. "Why?"

"Sheer curiousity. Second, there was – maybe there still is, a box under your bed. Carved into it is a symbol, do you know what that symbol means?" I ask. He grabs my arms with force, and it hurts. I recoil away by instinct, pulling my arm out of his grip. That is the first time I have been able to do that, maybe the Dauntless initiation has made me stronger- both physically and mentally. His grip left a mark on my arm.

"How do you know about that?" He asks, his eyes searching mine. This is the man I have feared for almost sixteen years.

"It doesn't matter. Please, we don't have much time and I need to know. If you won't tell me I'll figure it out another way." I look at my father with desperation. His intensity fades, and instead I see the calm, nonchalant Amity man that Jack has known all his life. He caresses my face, then adjusts the flower crown on my head.

"It's a pretty crown." Says a cold voice from the shadows. Eric. He steps toward us and I tense up.

"Yes, it is." My dad says, "I never did get to ask, who made it for you?" I blink and stare at my dad.

Quietly, I say "I thought you made it."

"Regardless, you're daughter looks beautiful in it." Eric says, his hand on my back. What's he playing at?

"Yes, she does." My dad agrees. "You're overseeing her training, how's she doing so far? I've heard the initiations for Dauntless are intense."

"She's exceptional." Eric says, looking at me. Then he turns to my dad and adds "For an Amity transfer."

Dad hums and says, "Well, I would hope so. Both her and Jack deserve to be in Dauntless." His tone, the one he's used on me so many times, suggests that the conversation is over and he ushers me back to Jack and mom.

I have never been so relieved to have an overprotective father.

"You avoided my question," I whisper to my dad.

"No I didn't. I chose not to answer it." He gives me one final embrace and adds, "Find out who made that crown."

Then they're gone.

And I find myself relieved.

* * *

_**A/N: Reviewers, thank you. I know I tend to leave in quite a few grammar mistakes so if you spot one, feel obliged to point it out so I can fix it. **_

_**On another note...**_

_**Woah! Where are you guys all coming from? Like, seriously? Some of these countries I haven't even heard of! Thank you all so much!**_

_**As for the story, I wonder why Tori is so torn up about her mother and father... **_

_**-blatant foreshadowing- **_


	13. Chapter 13: De La Soul

I sit at a table in the dining hall with our friends, eating mashed potatoes. I see Lynn sitting with Marlene and Uriah across the hall, she glances at me and we make eye contact for a few seconds longer than what most would call appropriate. Jack's sitting across from me and he keeps sneaking glances at me. I drop my fork into the plate and look at him.

"What?" I snap.

Jack squints and says "Two questions. First, how do you still have that flower crown?"

"Fair question. I kept it in the night stand when we were suppose to burn all our clothes. I thought dad made it for me and I wanted to keep it, but turns out he didn't make it." I explain.

"Okay. Who made it then?" He asks.

"I don't know. It wasn't mom, she always puts yellow flowers. I'm surprised they haven't wilted yet." I say.

"Alright. Second question. What the hell is going on with you and Eric?" Everyone nods their heads and hum. Christina, Will, Al and Tris all listen closely to our conversation.

"That's your third question," I correct. "And trust me, nothing is going on between us. I hate that guy more than you can imagine." I glance at Lynn again and sigh unconsciously. Fortunately I don't think anybody noticed.

"That was so weird though," Christina says. "Why'd he come over in the first place?"

"I may have accidentally made eye-contact with him for half a second," I admit.

"But then he called Four over and things got worse, _oh my god_." Will says.

"Okay, are you guys done?" Jack interrupts, "I want to head back to check the rankings." Everyone stands right away, not caring to even finish chewing the food still in their mouths.

Back at the dorm, everyone is trying to see the rankings so I let Tris and Myra slip in front of me. All the transfers are here, and everyone is holding their breaths.

"For those of you who just came in, I'm explaining how the ranks are determined," Four says. "After the first round of fights, we ranked you according to your skill level. The number of points you earn depends on your skill level and the skill level of the person you beat. You earn more points for improving and more points for beating someone of a high skill level. I don't reward preying on the weak. That is cowardice."

His heavy gaze drops on Peter, who shrinks under the weight.

"If you have a high rank, you lose points for losing to a low-ranked opponent."

Molly makes a weird noise, she's clearly screwed.

"Stage two of training is weighted more heavily than stage one, because it is more closely tied to overcoming cowardice," he says. "That said, it is extremely difficult to rank high at the end of initiation if you rank low in stage one. You and the Dauntless born will have separate ranks for now. For stage two it will be combined."

Okay. We get it. Just show us the ranks already, Four!

"We will announce the cuts tomorrow," Four says. "The fact that you are transfers and the Dauntless-born initiates are not will _not_ be taken into consideration. Four of you could be factionless and none of them. Or four of them could be factionless and none of you. Or any combination thereof. That said, here are your ranks."

1. Edward

2. Peter

3. Tori

4. Jack

5. Will

6. Christina

7. Tris

8. Molly

9. Drew

10. Al

11. Myra

I should be happy that I'm ranked third out of all the transferred initiates. I should be glad that Jack is ranked fourth.

But... Al.

That night, I don't sleep. I can't because sleep teases me with drowsiness and fatigue, but it slips away when I try to tighten my grip and I'm too suspicious of Peter's unnerving calm. I am right to be because in the middle of the night, Edward cries out in pain.

Edward thrives on the ground, shouting "Get_ it_ out!"

_It_ is a butter knife that is lodged into his eyeball. Tris tells him he has to let the doctors take it out.

"It hurts," he sobs. I grab his hand and he squeezes hard through his pain, the veins on his arms and neck bulge. I wish I could take his pain away.

"I know it does." I say, my Amity showing. "It will be all right." And it will, I assure myself. The worst case scenario is that Edward will be missing one eye. He is still tall and strong and smart, even if he's missing an eye. He can still be Dauntless, if anything this may strengthen his chances at striving. Imagine, a Dauntless leader with an eye patch.

When the nurse arrives, she tells me to step back, and I do. My hands and knees are soaked with blood, as is Tris. I take a spare change of clothes to the bathroom, following Tris's lead.

I scrub and scrub and scrub my hands under the warm water of the faucet. Edward's blood may stain my hands for a day, but Peter will never rid himself of this bloodstain. Back in the dorm, Tris is scrubbing the floor with paper towels. Tris, so selfless.

Will and Tris beckon me out the door as everyone else tries to take a nap. To sleep would be impossible. I don't really listen to what they say as we meander down the halls, but something stands out to me in their conversation.

"One of the lines I remember from the Dauntless manifesto is, 'We believe in ordinary acts of bravery, in the courage that drives one person to stand up for another.'"

"Well," I say, "Dauntless has strayed far from that." What is it with this faction? I can't tell what they want from us anymore. Do they want us to be brave and courageous or do they actually want us to be ruthless and cruel? If _Peter_ gets away with this, we will find out which one the Dauntless values. Of course it was Peter, he and Drew were the only one's missing while Edward writhed around in pain.

When we do get back to the dorms, Edward and Myra's bunks are stripped.

"They quit." Christina said. "Even Myra. Said she didn't want to be here without him, and she was going to be cut anyways." At least they didn't cut Al, two Dauntless born had to leave instead.

"It's a shame," I say, all eyes on me as I change my clothes. I shrug and say, "It would've been cool to have a Dauntless leader with an eye patch. He was meant for the job." It's wrong, but we all laugh. It's easier to let out laughter than it is to conceal it.

1. Peter

2. Tori

3. Jack

4. Will

5. Christina

6. Tris

7. Molly

8. Drew

9. Al

* * *

Jack, Fry and I jump out of the train when we get close to the Erudite headquarters. They roll, but it seems like so much given time so I leap and keep running once I've hit the ground.

"Are you even human?" Fry asks, earning a snort from Jack as I adjust my flower crown. I had decided to wear it this morning, though I'm not sure why.

The Erudite buildings loom above us, dark and unfamiliar. How will we find Scott? The ride here we told Fry about him, how he's an initiate and what not.

Fry leads us to the largest glass building in the area, and once we're inside I see an alarming amount of blue attire. Everyone wear's glasses, but I doubt the majority need them.

He talks to a small, skinny man behind a desk. Jack and I wait, and he squirms uncomfortably.

"Why are they all staring?" Jack whispers.

"Think of it this way," I say, "You would stare too if you saw... an _Abnegation_ in the Pit."

The sheer notion was ridiculous, to see someone so plain and calm in the midst of all the commotion of the Pit, surrounded by people in leather jackets, skin tight clothes with tattoos and piercings. It was enough to distract Jack.

"Jack?" A familiar voice calls out. Turning, we see someone with tanned, olive-toned skin and short hair. He wears large spectacles and a several piece bright blue suit, holding a sheet of glass under his arm. He looks at me, his brown eyes wide, and says, "Tori?"

"Scott?" I say, matching his tone. God, he looks so different. It's a good different, this look suits him. The blue looks much better on his body than the yellow of Amity.

What must he think of us? I've cut my hair, we've pierced our faces and wear all black.

We don't hug, but instead shake hands. That's what Erudite do, Dauntless do it sometimes too. It's a strange gesture to do with Scott because I've always ever embraced him in a hug.

Jack launches away because I can't find words to say. This all feels so strange, like I'm in a trance. Scott's blank look proves he's feeling the same way. He must be wondering why we're here. Why are we here? He's not getting a word Jack's saying, and then I realize I'm not sure what he's saying either.

Then I remember why we came to the heart of Erudite just to meet him.

I pull my leather jacket off, revealing a black, loose tank top underneath. He's pulled out of his trance. Turning my body, I show Scott the exposed tattoo and ask "Do you know what this symbol means?"

Looking at him, he shakes his head. Jack lets out a deep, disappointed breath. "I can find out, though." He says.

I smile at him as he takes the sheet of glass from under his arm and takes a picture of the symbol on my back.

"I figured you had a better chance of finding out what it meant, you know, since you're Erudite and all." I say with a sly grin on my face.

"That's a logical hypothesis for a member of Dauntless," Scott says, his face serious as he pushes his spectacles up with a finger. Then he cracks and a grin spreads on his face.

"Well, we're not Dauntless yet," Jack points out.

"Right. The Dauntless have the longest initiation out of all factions, how are you two fairing?" Scott asks, staring at the spikes on Jack's ears.

"The initiates are split into transfers and Dauntless born, and we're only half way through the initiation stages," I say, "But we're doing well so far."

He says, "That's good to hear,"

"And..." Jack hesitates, "We saw Harry. Have you seen your family?"

Scott let's out a gush of wind. "I saw them a few weeks ago. Is he alright?" I nod.

Fry clears his throat from behind us and our time is up.

"You can visit other factions right? Will you tell us if you find out anything?" I ask as he shakes Jack hand in goodbye.

"Of course," Scott says, taking my hand in his. "You're still wearing the flower crown I made you?" He adds in a whisper. I kiss him on the cheek as I did on the day of the Choosing Ceremony, which literally feels like it was a lifetime ago as if I went up in flames and rose out of the ashes that day.

* * *

_**A/N: And thus begins my struggle to put out more chapters. Reviewers, followers and favouriters, I love you more than you can imagine.**_

_**Are loose ends getting tied up? Don't feel relieved just yet, there's a lot more brewing just over the horizon.**_

_**Thought I should let you know that in chapter six I wrote the line "I've never had sex. Never seen anyone naked and have never even kissed anyone," When referring to the whole Candor/Erudite joke about Amity having orgies on farms. I've decided to remove that line because of a crucial plot point coming soon. **_


	14. Chapter 14: Do I Wanna Know

Lynn is dragging me down a corridor. We pass Eric, who's yelling at someone. The man he shouts at is much older than him but Eric scolds the guy like a child. Lynn pulls me away from them, her grip warming up my cold skin. The rock carved halls are just barely illuminated and she leads me towards a cascading orange light. There's a bulge in her back pocket (can you blame me for peeking?) so I reach for it and pull out what looks like a cigarette pack. My hands shake, and she looks at me with curiosity, slipping a lighter into my hand. The pack is open but untouched, with all cigarettes still intact. I invert it and pull one out with my mouth. With the cigarette in between my teeth, I try to turn on the lighter but it's as stubborn as I am. Lynn lights my cigarette for me. I suck and oh lord I have been missing out. How is it that I had even been alive before?

"H- Holy shit," I say. Lynn laughs. She has such a beautiful laugh.

I suck a little, then pull the cigarette away and inhale deeply. My throat tickles and my body feels so much lighter, like I could just fly away. I keep sucking in a little at a time, then inhaling. I cough now and then and it reminds me of how mortal I am. I will die one day, and I'm not afraid of that. Lynn continues to drag me somewhere. I see people pass, not paying attention to their faces, just to my magical cigarette and my magical Lynn. I hear music, so beautiful that I want to dance. I bob my head along to the beat, and pull Lynn towards me.

She laughs and says, "I didn't think you'd be very big on cigarettes." I feel so good I can't even string together words to reply to her, just holding her hand in mine as I keep on bobbing. I begin singing along to the song, not paying attention to what the lyrics really are. I think I need to sit down. Lynn takes me to a booth where the lighting illuminates her face perfectly. I'm sitting on her lap.

"Oops," I say sheepishly, but I make no attempt to move. I can feel the warmth of her thighs through our thin layers of clothes. I close my eyes, listening to the music as she presses her cheek against mine. I'm so close to her. If I just tilt my head a little, I could kiss her. The thought of her lips against mine makes my head rush, or maybe that's the cigarette. One more drag, and instead of warmth she feels cold and hard.

I open my eyes and my cheek is pressed against the ground. I look up at my bed from the cold concrete floor. I must've fallen off my bed while I was sleeping. I press my forehead to the ground and sigh. I'm in a white tank top and pink shorts, my body is losing heat with every moment I stay on the ground. My dream was amazing. But it wasn't really a dream, just a replay of the night before. After returning from the Erudite headquarters, I ran into Lynn.

Lynn.

Short for Evelynne. What a beautiful name. God, she's so beautiful. I feel someone kick my butt. I see Jack looking down at me. He looks confused. I would be too if I saw someone lying on the ground.

"Do you plan on getting off the floor today?" He asks with his usual sarcasm.

"No." I reply honestly. He pulls me up and dumps me on my bed. I doze off, my head still rushing.

When I wake, it's 7:50. Ah, shit. I don't shower, I don't even brush my teeth. I don't want to get rid of that bitter taste of the cigarette in my mouth, it's the only thing that proves my dream really happened. The nightclub, with the music and the cigarettes and drinks. I just change into the first thing I find, a loose black tank top and black shorts. I'm cold. I walk quickly in the halls, though I'm not sure where I'm going until I see Four and Eric walking up ahead. I follow them to a dark hallway where the other initiates either stand against the wall or sit on the ground. I run my hand through my messy, disheveled hair. I hear laughter.

"So she decided to join us for the second stage after all!" Jack shouts out. I smile at him, and steal his bottle of water. Pressing my hand over my face, I inhale deeply and realize I still smell like cigarettes. I'm not the only one that notices. "Were you smoking?" He asks me, quiet and serious.

_Deceive__ to keep the truth. _

"What?" I snort, "Nah, man. Who smokes? That's stupid."

You know what takes more courage than lying to those you love? Telling them the truth. I'm no coward.

"Yes," I admit silently, "I did."

"Satisfied?" He asks, smirking.

"Oh, god_ yes_." I reply without shame. He laughs. I'm surprised, I thought he'd be angry. I guess we're not in Amity anymore.

Four comes out and calls Uriah to the room we're all anticipating and dreading to see. After him is Peter. Then Lynn. When Lynn is finished, she doesn't look at me. She just walks away, her eyes wild. I want to run after her and comfort her but Four calls me in. It's fairly similar to the aptitude test room I entered ages ago, though not as pristine-looking.

When I don't say anything, Four says, "The simulation will teach you to control your emotions in the midst of a frightening situation." What did he say? I heard words but I didn't understand their meaning. I feel something bite me and then my neck goes numb. Four injected me with a serum. Why not just let me drink it? He explains to me how it all works, or at least he tries to explain. I don't understand, and I don't really care. I just want to know what I have to do so I can finish and get to Lynn, to see if she's alright.

"In addition to containing the transmitter, the serum stimulates the amygdala, which is the part of the brain involved in processing negative emotions—like fear—and then induces a hallucination." What? "The brain's electrical activity is then transmitted to our computer, which then translates your hallucination into a simulated image that I can see and monitor. I will then forward the recording to Dauntless administrators. You stay in the hallucination until you defeat the fear or calm down—that is, lower your heart rate and control your breathing."

Okay, all I have to do is calm down by lowering my heart rate and controlling my breathing. I can do that.

My eyes flutter, closing as the serum begins to take effect. When I open my eyes, I'm strapped to a cold metal table. Next to it is a trolley with tools and a bowl, something's moving inside it. Above me is a mirror. I do not like what I see.

My wrists and ankles are bound with leather straps, my skin is pale with blood loss. There's a sheet covering my body with a square hole in it, exposing my stomach. Though, it's not really my stomach. Any skin has been removed and hundreds of maggots and worms crawl on me. I can feel them nibbling on my organs. I try to shout out but who ever did this to me must've removed my vocal chords because I can't make a sound.

I can hear the squishy sound they make as they crawl in my bodily fluids and blood. My heartbeat is in my ears, pounding so quickly. I try to grip the straps with my clammy hands but it's futile.

I need to use my senses. I can't hear anything except for the parasites writhing around in my flesh. I can only smell the metallic fragrance of my own blood. I can't feel anything but the maggots. My mouth has the bitter taste of cigarettes.

Lynn.

Something's odd about this situation. These maggots can't kill me. I close my eyes and take deep breaths, only opening them once I've heard Four's voice.

"Tori," Four starts, "It's over."

"No it's not." I retaliate.

"Yes it is, you're safe."

"It's not over." I repeat, "It's never really over, is it?"

* * *

This time when I open my eyes, my arms are bound behind my back and my legs are bound to the legs of a chair, leaving them wide open. I'm in a dark room with only one orange light directly above me and a figure watches me from the shadows. As this figure steps into the light I see it's Lynn. I am relieved. She will untie me.

As she nears her fingers graze my open legs, making their way closer and closer to my crotch. I am sweating profusely and my heart beat has skyrocketed. She keeps extending her fingers until she goes right past and reaches behind me, lingering on my ass. I can not speak. I am too afraid, too scared. She reaches inside my butt-pocket and- of course. She pulls out a pack of cigarettes.

Lynn takes a cigarette, lights it, and puts it in my mouth. But then she keeps extending, pushing the lit cigarette deeper into my mouth, to my throat. I start to gag and the cigarette_ literally_ burns my throat. Then she takes out another one and does the same. Then another one and another one and another one. There are tears streaming down my face, my tongue is coated with ashes and my throat is stuffed with cigarettes. I try to look at Lynn, to plead, to ask her _'Why?' _but her eyes are covered by a shadow. This isn't my Lynn, she would never do this. I close my eyes as she stuffs another cigarette down my throat.

Breathe. In and out.

"Tori." Four says, bringing me back. I wipe the tears away from my face quickly.

* * *

_**A/N: The song I was referring to was something by one of my favourite bands, the Arctic Monkeys. **_

_**Did anybody guess what the cigarette was a metaphor for? **_

_**To get to the point, I had some trouble thinking of what I was going to do for the second stage. I've decided I'm going to give you maybe one or two more fears, and the rest you must wait for in the Fear Landscape. The maggot and cigarette simulations/hallucinations are a day apart. More from Jack and what happened in between those two simulations in the next chapter!**_

_I just got a review [for this chapter and I felt like I just had to say something about it] where someone asked if Tori was gay. I understand some people don't like to read "stories with people who are gay." I rated this story T just to be safe, but I won't be writing any risque scenes. All my character has done is called another person of the same sex beautiful. If you don't like that or think it's gross, you're a homophobic piece of shit and you can get out of my face. The relationship between Tori and Lynn was inspired by actual people, and to say you're indifferent to that is an insult to their memories. _


	15. Chapter 15: Father Knows Best

_**Jack's perspective**_

* * *

The Amity folk used to say you could tell a lot about someone's character by just looking at their eyes.

Christina has makeup smeared on the left side of her face, Will has lines under his eyes, Al's sloppily cut hair obscures his eyes from view, Tris's eyes seem so sunken in her face and Tori's eyes are most intriguing.

How wide they go at the slightest sound  
How glassy and unblinking they seem  
How they're always darting away.

We all sit in the dining hall but no one's in the mood to eat breakfast.

I can hear Peter and Molly walking in our direction, though my back is facing them. The hall's crowded and there isn't much space. There just so happens to be two empty seats to my left.

_Jesus Christ_, Molly's voice is so annoying. It's high-pitched, nasally and way too loud. Her sound waves pierce my inner ear and I wince when she talks. She's not even that close by and it sounds like she's shrieking into my ear.  
Please leave now. I don't want to make polite small talk with them.

Oh god they're right behind me.  
Oh god oh god.  
PLEASE don't sit down.  
Please leave.

Peter's voice is weird. It's deep but his words sound muffled, like he's talking through a funnel. They almost sat at our table.

They're standing, I think.  
They're pacing.  
OH GOD.  
HES GOING TO SIT NEXT TO ME.  
no he's not

He's pacing? Must be nervous, I didn't even consider that he could be phased by stage two.  
I doubt he wants to be here. I wonder if they know how irritating their voices are..

NO HES SITTING NEXT TO ME  
HE SAT  
HES EATING

Peter's eyes are bloodshot.

THEYRE BOTH SITTING  
HE ASKED FOR COFFEE

Molly's talking to me  
I laugh and smile  
I have no idea what they're saying  
Please leave

AHHHH MAKE HER STOP TALKING MY EAR DRUMS WILL SHATTER.

I'm just going to scowl and stare at the table until we leave.

I don't have to wait long because Uriah, Marlene and Lynn beckon us with them as they head out. It doesn't escape my notice the strange relationship Lynn and Tori have. The way they sneak glances at each other when the other isn't looking. The way my sister gets nervous around her. The way she gets fidgety around my sister. How Tori tends to sing more often, how even though she shakes at night she smiles a little wider when she's around Lynn.

Here we are again, outside of that dread enticing room, people nervously chattering around me. I hear the soft melodic tune of my sister's voice with a new found touch of huskiness. She sings quietly, not wanting to bring attention to herself, which is odd because she loves attention. The song is familiar, she used to sing this song all the time as a child. She stopped when she grew older, around twelve. She never sang as much, but she loved it all the same.

"You are my sunshine, my only sunshine, you make me happy when skies are grey," Tori sings to Lynn. The gaze they hold is so intimate and personal I feel like I'm intruding and I turn away. She doesn't have the chance to finish the song because Four beckons Uriah into the room and chatter ceases.

This has not been easy. The first day, I couldn't speak for a few hours. I was being sucked into a sink hole of mud in an Amity farm I visited as a child. The mud was heavy and cold, pulling me into it's depths with such force that it seemed futile to resist. It took me a while to calm down and regain my senses. When I came out, Four said it took me eight minutes. It felt like an hour. Yesterday, I was suspended in the air, hanging a thousand feet off the ground from a slippery pole between two buildings. I had to swing my hands and pull myself towards the nearest building. Sure, it was scary, but I get the feeling some people have fears that are a lot worse than mine. Tori, for example. She told me one of her fears was being infested with maggots. She wouldn't tell me the other.

This time, I'm tied to a wooden beam in a dark and shady room. It's so cold I can see my breath. My hands are bound by rope that cuts into my skin. I can see a gun just feet away on a table, next to an empty peace serum bottle. I hear the scuttle of feet and a whimper. Squinting, I see a figure stalking towards Tori in the corner.

"Leave her alone!" I shout out uselessly, my voice strained and horse as it cuts through the cold silence. The figure lets out a familiar rumbling laugh and slaps Tori, sending her to the ground. _Come on, Tori, fight back._ With my hands, I feel a nail in the beam and I strain my fingers to pull it out. She just slumps against the wall as the figure closes the space between them. I grit my teeth, clenching hard. My nails throb but I continue with steady hands, I have to cut through the rope, quickly. The rope cuts into my skin and it burns.

It doesn't matter, I have to get to Tori

I have to save my sister.

As soon as the rope's cut I grab the gun and shoot without hesitation. In the flash of a moment I see the yellow of Amity and my father slumps on the ground.

I see Four again. My eyes are wide and my breath is quick.

All I hear him say is, "...less than four minutes."

* * *

Rankings? I think the rankings are stupid. We're supposed to be a faction which means, _you know_, united. They're pitting us against each other when they should be getting us to work together. When people are so eager to get first place no one will want to follow their orders. Yes, I'm talking about Peter. He stabbed Edward's eye, there's no way I'd follow him to war. Tris, I'd follow.

Speaking of, the damn girl must be doing really well in the simulations because the rankings are up;

1) Tris

2) Peter

3) Jack

4) Molly

5) Drew

6) Tori

7) Christina

8) Will

9) Al

Interesting. She's mentally stronger than any of us anticipated, which makes a good leader. I fear for her though, everyone seems taken aback. I'm right, these rankings pit us against each other. Will and Christina probably question her motives. Al probably hates her, _hell_, Al probably hates us all. Tori keeps an eye on Tris until she slips away in the night, probably to escape the glares. Tori, who's in sixth place. What happened? I mean, it's not entirely bad but I thought she would've done better than Molly and Drew. The simulations must be taking a toll on her.

"I worry for you, you know," I say, sitting next to her on her own bed.

"You've been worrying for me my entire life," she says, chuckling.

"Sixth isn't bad," I reassure her.

"No, but it's not good either." She says quietly. I pull her into a hug and she closes her eyes against me.

"You were in my simulation today," I say quietly.

"What? You're not scared of me, are you?" She teases, poking my face.

"You? Nah!"

"Then what?"

"You were being.. attacked." I say, "And I was tied to a beam. I shot the attacker when I got out of the ropes, and the strangest thing happened. The attacker was dad." Tori stares at her fingers in silence.

"That's weird," She says after awhile. _Shit. Don't tell me I've been this oblivious._

"I don't think it is." I say. She looks up at me, trembling. "God. Tori. I've been such an idiot!" I pull her in closer to me, tightening my grip around her. How could I let this happen? How did I not realize that there was a deep rooted reason for her hatred of Amity? "How long?" I ask.

"Started at twelve," She says in a whimper. _Twelve? _What kind of coward takes advantage of a twelve year old girl?

"If I ever see him again, I swear I'll kill him" I say, rage bubbling up inside me, filling me with white hot anger. My sister, my older sister had to take his shit for four years. How many times did he harass her while I was out of the house? "And mom?"

"She knew," Tori says, fighting tears. My sister, still fighting even the smallest battles. "She knew and she let it happen. She always hated me,"

"That's not true," I protest, frowning.

"But it is," She blurts out, "It is! She wanted a first born son. Twins weren't good enough for her, it didn't matter that we were only minutes apart. She hated me for coming out first. She wanted me punished, that was her way of punishing me. By not doing anything."

"Why didn't you ever tell me?" I ask, slightly hurt. Did she not trust me?

She snorts and says, "We lived in Amity, remember? He always said I_ 'must deceive to keep the peace_.'"

"Oh, Tori." I say, at a loss for words. She shoves me forcefully, but not hard enough to hurt.

"I don't want your pity." She spits out.

"Then you won't get any," I promise, "But I'm your brother. I'm here to protect you-"

"I don't need you to protect me!" She interrupts.

"I'm here to protect you whether you like it or not." I snap. "No more secrets, yeah?" Tori nods.

"So," I begin in hopes of distracting her, "You and Lynn-"

"What?" She blurts out quickly, her face turning hot and crimson. "We're just friends," She adds.

"Sure," I say in disbelief. After a moment I add, "She's good for you. I know she is."

"Yeah," she agrees.

"So you admit it?" I ask, cocking an eyebrow.

"Yeah," She repeats, hiding a grin in her hands. For a brief moment I think of Tori dressed in wedding attire with Lynn. In Amity, same-sex relationships were frowned upon but accepted nevertheless because all other factions accept it. Though, I can't think of a single same-sex couple that weren't transfers. What do weddings look like in Dauntless? "What about you, though?" She asks, "Have your eye on anyone?"

"No," I admit. She nods as I clear my throat and look around, then I freeze.

"What?" Tori asks, sensing my unease. She looks around the room and understands.

We dash out of the dorm quickly in no particular direction until I literally run into Four. God, he feels like he's made of stone. Cold and hard, what does Tris see in him besides his strong morality? He crosses his arms and is about to lecture us.

"Tris is missing," I blurt out, interrupting him before he starts.

"So?" He asks, pretending to be bored. I can see the alarms ringing in his head.

"_So...?_ So are Peter, Drew and Al!" Tori interjects. He's there one second and like a bat, gone the next. I look at Tori and I know she would do the same for Lynn. Is that what love is? Wanting to protect another? Something tells me it's deeper than that. We run through the halls, passing nonchalant faces.

Running, running, running. Run, or who knows what'll happen to Tris. She'll put up a fight, but for how long? We lost one good leader to Peter, we don't want to lose another. Not only that, but we know Tris. She's our friend.

Tori pulls me down an all too familiar corridor. The chasm. Oh, god. Are we too late? No, I hear grunts. Faster, run faster. Two figures run towards us. Drew and Al.

"Al?" I say in disbelief. I had assumed he was just moping somewhere. They both stop in front of us. Al tries to get past Tori, but she pins him to the wall.

"Shouldn't you be running the other way, Al? You know, to help your_ friend_." She hisses at him. Drew tries to run past too, but I grab him by the collar and slam him against the wall next to Al. I'm familiar with the tone that Tori uses, Al and Drew should be pissing their pants. She wants to pound Al until he's flat against the wall, but that wouldn't do much good.

In an almost inaudible whisper I say, "Cowards. You're both cowards. You're not Dauntless, no way." I let go of Drew, who runs away like the sniveling coward he is. He won't risk doing anything like this again, I'm sure of it. Turning to Al, the guilt's practically eating him alive. There's no need to say anything to him, he already knows what we think.

Tori lets him go but with one hand I push him back up against the wall. He's crying. It's pathetic.

"Ordinary acts of bravery, in the courage that drives one person to stand up for another." I say, "Sound familiar? It should, it's the Dauntless manifesto. Take a good look at what you've done and tell me if you still think you're Dauntless." My tone is harsh and he winces after every word. I should feel guilty, treating him like this. I should give him a chance to redeem himself.

But what kind of coward takes advantage of a young girl?

* * *

_**A/N: Well, this is awkward. Sorry I haven't updated in a while (I'm totally not sorry) I've been so busy (that's bullshit). **_

_**Honestly though, here's the real story:**_

_**So my brother has football practices, right? And I go to his practices because I want to encourage him and because my parents don't have time to watch him.**_

_**Most of the time, it's just a bunch of moms, grandparents and little kids on the sidelines. Sometimes the coaches need a little extra help and I'm more than willing to help out because**_

_**a) I love playing football**_

_**b) I kick ass at football**_

_**and c) I love proving points to sexist people**_

_**So there's a whole bunch of teams that practice, all different age groups and of course, if there's football teams there has to be cheerleaders. **_

_**There are these cheerleaders around my age, all sixteen, seventeen and eighteen, that have kept their eyes on me for the last few weeks. **_  
_**They make snide comments and little remarks but for the most part, I brush them off until recently, when they've said that a woman's place isn't on the field. It baffled me that people with this mindset still exist, and yes, I got into a fight. Yes, I got into a fight more than once. **_

_**The last fight I got into, I brushed it off. I have bad news and good news. **_

_**The bad news? Turns out I had a minor concussion. Whoopsies. **_

_**Good news? I can now flawlessly describe how a concussion feels in my writing. Plus, that's kind of bad ass, right? Minor concussion, how cool! **_

_**Anyways, I'm hoping I spend more time writing now that I have three weeks off school. Keep in mind that during these three weeks I'm also working long hours (still not sorry). **_


End file.
